Game Content
by Starved of Song
Summary: The Titan's Family game night was usually tame (save for the yelling, arguing and broken game boards), but this time they're INSIDE the game. A mysterious dragon piece appeared in Raven's room one night, and the next morning they're sucked into an RPG game? Coincidence? I don't think so... BBXRAE and Friends (Some swearing, nothing serious)
1. Cold Evenings

The Titan's 'family game night' was pretty much only a game between the boys. Starfire was always eager to participate, but no matter how many ways they explained _Monopoly_ to her, she just couldn't get it. It made sense, American economics didn't really seem like something that a Tamaranean alien would be interested in, let alone grasp. Raven, on the other hand, participated in game night by either beating them all at chess, or reading a book at the table and throwing in comments once or twice. Today, however, Beast Boy brought home a new card game. Something to do with gods, monsters, heroes and villains. The rules were pretty simple and everyone was invested in it.

In this game, as it was different every time, Robin was the great hero of Roe, and Cyborg was the worst villain they had. Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven were all supporting players this time, and they were all trying to out-do the other, minions to Cyborg or teammates to Robin.

"Watch out, Rae! I'm about to cream you with magic blue fire." Beast Boy was on Cyborg's team of course, while Raven was thrown as the odd man out onto the Hero Team.

She threw down a card and rolled a die. "Deflected by the Mirror of Alduin." She replied dully to his threat. Starfire clapped happily.

"Marvelous!"

Beast Boy sulked. "Sorry, dude." He nodded at Cyborg.

But his villainous leader was too busy glaring at the smirking Boy Wonder. Robin was relishing having both girls on his team, as one was passionate and played hard, and the other was smart and strategic. Beast Boy and Cyborg were gaming veterans, but that didn't mean they were winning this new one. "Don't worry. We'll get em'."

They played for what turned out to be another hour, (three total) with the side of good once again triumphing over evil.

"Gah!" Cyborg whined. "You only won because it was two against three!"

Robin held up two fingers. "One, you're the one who wanted Raven on the good side-"

"That's because the girl's never played games with us and enjoyed it before!" He interrupted. Raven glared at him and flicked a game piece at his head.

"And TWO," Robin continued. "The evil side has _much_ stronger monsters."

Beast Boy threw down the list of cards in the instruction manual. "Yeah, but you guys have two times as many utility cards!"

Raven's vein in her forehead was pulsating from frustration. She cleared her throat loudly, but no one seemed to pay attention. Instead, she took action. The game pieces neatly threw themselves back in the box and the cards were all properly organized and stacked together, held by a rubber band. She finished it off by sealing the game box up with packing tape all around it and it disappeared into the floor. "It's JUST a GAME." She hissed monotonously.

Everyone was speechless at the display, all except Cyborg. "Hey! Where'd you send it?!" She declined to answer. "Aw, nah Rae! You give it back right now! We're having a rematch!"

Her deadpanned expression deflated his competitive nature. "But-I-uh… Fine." He sighed and flopped back into his chair. "Who wants pizza?"

"Agreed!" Starfire clapped again. "The game of cards and monsters has greatly increased my appetite! Can we leave now?"

"I was thinking more like ordering a couple?" Cyborg suggested.

"Yeah! Then we can watch the new movie Robin got me for my nineteenth birthday!" Beast Boy finished. He was already running to the shelves to find the DVD.

Robin nodded. "Sounds good. Raven, you joining us?"

"Sure." She sighed. Starfire was thrilled and threw her strong arms around her friend. Raven had tried to promise herself and her friends that she'd be more present in their daily activities. "I'll make tea."

"Ew, really—" Beast Boy began. She shot him a deathly look that said, ' _I'm watching your stupid action movie, the least you can do is consent to some damn tea_ '. So he shut up.

Starfire patted Beast Boy on the head. "I understand, Beast Boy. I realize that the grass drinks of Azarath—"

"They're from Earth."

"—can be 'the gross'. But we must respect Raven's strange customs."

"Lots of humans drink tea..."

"And that is why I shall make the traditional Tamaranian dish of Mufzar! It may go well with grass drinks, because it is drier than small dirt particles near oceans!" She dove into the kitchen to prepare.

"You couldn't just accept the tea." Raven appeared next to him, disgruntled.

He nudged her with his elbow. "Aw, come' on Rae. We must 'respect her customs' like she respects yours."

"And she calls tea gross." She huffed and went to prepare the kettle and get out her flasks of dried herb tea. Beast Boy could feel the contents of his stomach curdle already at whatever Starfire was making that was drier than sand.

"Is that pizza being ordered, yet?" He anxiously called over his shoulder.

"Yup!" Cyborg replied. "With ALLLL the meat and anchovies you can eat!"

"DUDE, NO!" Beast Boy ran over there to intervene before it was too late.

Not long after, all but Starfire were settled into the couch. "Star, come ON!" Beast Boy whined. "Hurry up so I can press play!"

The DVD had been looping the loading screen for what felt like ages. "Please friends," She called from the kitchen. "A few moments more, I assure you!" She was grinning broadly when the oven finally *ding-ed*, and pulled out the food with her bare hands. "Success!" She cried.

Now returning to the couch, she handed off her goodies to the rest of the team. They looked like biscotti, but pure black, like someone burned bread at the bakery. They were jagged and sharp looking on the edges, like brittle rock. Beast Boy, rather reluctantly, went first under her hopeful gaze. He raised it tentatively to his mouth and took a hesitant bite. His eyes widened to twice their size, and he tensed up. It felt as though his tongue was being leeched of all its moisture.

"Ahhhh!" He found himself waving his arms, tongue flopping outside his mouth, dry as bone. "Tar!" He yelled. "You nevah ed tha eh woul make my ounge ah die ah and!" He cried.

Starfire was fully perplexed. "What? I do not fully understand."

"He said," Cyborg offered. "Star, you never said that it would make my tongue as dry as sand. End quote." He grinned at poor Beast Boy who nodded along helplessly.

Curious, Raven took one of the strange 'Mufzars' in her hand. It was brittle and crackled when given pressure. One side was so sharp it nearly cut the skin on her thumb. She frowned and dipped it into her cup of tea while the rest of the Titans were distracted with Beast Boy's tongue. Once it reached the surface of the tea, the strange alien food sucked the entire contents of the cup into it, like a bionic sponge. After, the cup was completely dry.

"Better keep these away from the ocean." She said to no one. She took a cautious bite and relished the feeling of both a crummy crunch and an over-wash of tea on her tongue. It was like dunking buttered toast in milk. It was heaven. "Starfire, these are good."

No one heard her, though, like usual. Well, except Beast Boy whose ears perked up to a straight attention. "Wha!?" He accused.

"Drink the tea." She commanded, handing him a full cup. His expression suggested that, even though his tongue was about to fall out of his mouth and converge into a pile of dust on the table, he still didn't want anything to do with it.

Finally, though, Beast Boy relented and took the cup, nearly draining the whole thing and holding it in his mouth to let it wash over his tongue. Finally, after what felt like forever to the rest of them, he swallowed and sighed in relief. "Dude, that was horrific." He panted out.

Starfire hung her head in shame. "I am so sorry. Forgive me, I did not think that the Mufzar would have such an effect."

"Starfire," Raven repeated, once again. "These are good."

Starfire's head snapped up. "Oh, truly?"

Raven nodded, reaching for the next one after having finished the first, and pouring herself another cup of tea. "They're actually, sort of, perfect." She demonstrated her discovery to them all and each of them were amazed.

"Whoa, think of all the spills we could clean up with these things. They're better than a sham-wow!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Robin patted Starfire reassuringly on the shoulder, and they all agreed that these were the very few strange alien foods that would be eaten regularly in the tower.

"Okay," Beast Boy loudly interjected. "We gotta' start that movie now!" He waved the remote at them all. Starfire nodded in agreement and the boys got settled in. Raven resisted the urge to grab a book. "Here we go!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Wait!" Robin interjected. Beast Boy nearly threw the remote at his head.

"What _now_?" He sighed deeply.

Robin pointed at one of the adjacent monitors to the TV. It was a map of the tower, and the front door was a blinking red dot. "Pizza's here."

Beast Boy's ears fell and he grumbled all the way to the front door. The delivery guy was shocked when the door flew open, smacked the side of the tower, and an angry green bear appeared to take all three boxes in his teeth before turning and sulking back down the hallway. A sheepish Cyborg paid behind him. They sent the delivery boy away without much other thought. Pizzas were distributed, tea was re-poured for the third time, and everyone had taken their respective seats.

"OKAY." Beast Boy's tone suggested a finality to the situation. "HERE. WE. GO." He pressed play too quickly for anyone to object. He sighed in relief and plopped down next to Raven who was smooshed between him and Cyborg.

 _Great_. She thought. _No escape_.

Robin was overwhelmingly jealous that he'd bought the movie for Beast Boy instead of himself. It was really fantastic. A _James Bond_ meets _Sherlock_ meets _Die-Hard_ movie that kept you guessing at the identity of the villain at every turn. There were traps, car chases, gun fights, knife fights and a romantic sub-plot that made Robin hug Starfire a little closer toward the end. She nuzzled his neck in response. As the climax of the movie reached its peak, everyone (even Raven) gasped at the reveal of the villain. Never in their wildest dreams would they have expected it to be the old farmer who had sheltered their hero in the very beginning of the film. Never would they have guessed that the old man was the leading mind behind a massive drug cartel in Colombia, and that his daughter (the hero's romantic interest) would be shot in the end.

"No!" Starfire gasped. "It cannot be!" Robin rubbed her shoulder sympathetically.

Beast Boy shook his head, and Cyborg nudged Raven. "Look," He whispered and pointed at Beast Boy's face. It was clear the green Titan was trying to puzzle his way through the plot.

"Nuh-uh." He thought aloud. "Just wait for it."

Suddenly, on the movie screen, the hero brought the villains daughter back to life with CPR, in the rain, blood pooling everywhere. He held pressure to her wound, claimed that _'she'd make it outta here alive'_ and they shared a kiss covered in blood and raindrops, all in the light of a full moon.

Starfire cheered, Robin kissed her and Beast Boy beamed at both Cyborg and Raven who were gagging. "Knew it." He proudly stated.

Raven rolled her eyes at him. "You watch too many movies."

He shrugged. "Aren't-cha glad they got together in the end?" He poked her side and smirked at Cyborg. "You know you were bummed when you thought she died."

"I was nothing of the sort," she slapped his hand away. "People die. It happens."

"You'd be devastated if one of us died." He poked her again.

She looked at both boys who loved to torment her and said, "Yes."

It went silent. They were floored.

"But I'd also be getting a lot more peace and quiet around here." She finished.

Both burst out laughing. "Almost had me, Rae!" Cyborg noogie'd her lightly.

"Stop." She chastised weakly, then smoothed her hair with dignity and grace. _You shouldn't joke about those kind of things, anyway._ She thought.

Cyborg patted her re-done hair gently and stretched. "Okay, time for bed." He announced.

"The lovebirds are already gone, Cy." Beast Boy commented.

"Oh, damn."

Raven stood and stretched. Her hip made a little *pop* noise and she winced. "Ah," she whimpered. "How long was that movie?"

"It was a long one." Beast Boy looked at the back. "Dude, it took almost three hours!"

"Didn't feel like it." Cyborg waved over his shoulder. "That was a good one. Night y'all."

Beast Boy went to the DVD player and popped the disk back into the case. "That _was_ a good one, wasn't it Rae?"

She was halfway to the door already. "Mhm." She replied absentmindedly. _It's…what? Midnight? Whoa. 2 am._ She thought to herself.

"Yeah? You liked it?" He asked.

She turned, annoyed. "Sure, Beast Boy. It was fine."

"Really?" He asked.

" _Yes_." She hissed, pulling her cloak around her to nuzzle into it. She was tired and cold. "Why do you keep asking me?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but decided against it. "I don't know."

"Alright then," She huffed. "Goodnight, Beast Boy."

"Uh, er. Night, Rae." He replied.

She left him alone in the living room, the door sliding shut behind her with a soft click.

…

It wasn't yet sunrise, which Raven was sure of. It couldn't have been, the dark morning fell heavy on the city. She guessed around 5 am.

"I didn't sleep at all." She hissed at her drapes. They were half open; the moon shined through.

The thick, velvet blue of the drapes made her sleepy, but the light was too much to bear. She stood up from the bed, her long flowing sweatpants swirled around her ankles. She shivered in her small tank top and pulled the drapes shut. Quickly, she scurried back to bed to hop under the warm blankets, but on the floor at the very edge was something sharp.

"Ow!" She hissed, grinding her teeth. "I imagine that's what it's like to step on one of Beast Boy's Legos." She stooped down and searched in the dark for the offensive object. She pulled the drape open a fraction of an inch and held it up to the light. "Close enough."

It was one of those stupid game pieces from earlier. She frowned at it, then summoned the box from under her bed.

"W-what?" The box was still wrapped shut in packing tape. There was no way this piece could have escaped. She gently placed the piece on her altar and turned on the lights. "What are you?"

It was the small, detailed and intricate shape of a purple dragon. It settled nicely on a black circle stand that held it up. Her mahogany wood altar was so dark, it nearly swallowed the piece whole. She didn't like this new, dark dragon piece, so she lit a candle and watched it burn.

Raven thought that it melted quite nicely.

When she returned to her covers they no longer held the lingering warmth of her sleeping body. Instead, they were slippery and cold sheets that made her shiver even more. "Maybe I should light _myself_ on fire." She sighed. "Does no one regulate the AC in this tower?"

After twenty minutes she gave up and put on more layers. After another five minutes of that, she could see her breath. "Ugh!" She flopped back on her pillows in disgust. Sleep was very important to her, and right now she was ready to light the whole room on fire.

"Fine." She grumbled into the darkness of her room. "I'll go wake up Chrome-Dome and find out where he put the thermostat."

The hallway was warmer than her room. In fact, about halfway to Cyborg's door, she was sweating. She had to pull off the crew-neck she'd thrown on over her t-shirt and tied it around her waist. Now she looked like Robin if he were off to kickbox something. Finally reaching Cyborg's door, Raven summoned all her cranky, sleepless frustration and pounded on it.

He didn't come to the door. She attempted a magical approach to it, but it wouldn't budge. _He must have some sort of protection on it_. She thought. _Fine_. She pounded harder. Finally, the door opened.

To her right.

" _RAVEN_." Beast Boy hissed/whispered, rubbing his eyes. "What are you _doing_?"

She opened her mouth to begin the tale of her freezing discomfort, but his half-asleep expression told her that he:

A: Wasn't going to register any of it, and

B: Had no way of helping her out of her predicament.

Instead, she huffed and stalked back to her room which was emitting a cold draft. It began to permeate that part of the hall now, and it made her cough. _How can this be so cold?_ She thought. _I've really got to talk to Cyborg about going overboard with his tech… and maybe about building a fireplace_.

She angrily pulled her pillows and comforter off the bed and left her room closed and locked.


	2. Thrown into the Game

**A/N: Thank you everyone who read and to** ** _DarkAzarathian_** **who reviewed! I appreciate your support and hope you liked the first chapter! I'm going to shoot for updates every Sunday, but this one is early for now. Thanks again guys!**

 **...**

Her friends found her the next morning curled up on the sofa, hugging a cup of tea to her chest like her life depended on it. It had been freezing in here last night, too, but bearable enough that she'd slept until 8:30.

"Raven?" Cyborg chuckled a little. "What're you doing, girl?"

Her head made a slow swivel to rest her dark eyes on him. " _You_."

"Uh, me?" he blinked. "Me…what?"

She stood up, her comforter replacing the cloak that would usually be there. It billowed behind her, a menacing blue-purple shadow that made her look three times bigger. "You did this t-to, m-m-maaachhooo!" She sneezed, the comforter fell around her, and _she_ fell back on the couch against her pillows. Her eyebrows knit together and she sniffed. "Oh, great."

Everyone stood there a moment in quiet shock, and then Robin sprang into action. "Raven? What's going on? Are you sick?"

Cyborg put his hand on her head and looked at the other arm to scan her. "What did I do to make you sick?" He asked, both confused and concerned.

"The AC in my room, it was freezing in there. It was freezing in here, too." She mumbled beneath their stares.

Beast Boy tapped his head. "Oh, _that's_ why you were pounding on Cy's door last night."

"You were?"

"Yeah, and you never woke up." She sighed.

He blushed. "Sorry, Rae, I was out like a light."

She just shrugged.

"Don't worry," He continued. "I'll go take a look at it, but you've got a cold so stay here and stay warm." He tapped his arm and she could hear the furnace whirring all around them.

 _Oh, great. One little push of a button, and NOW it starts working_. She seethed.

"Be right back!" he waved. "Beast Boy, start the waffles!"

Everyone cheerily moved about their morning while Raven sat on the couch, both lonely and aggravated. She didn't have to wait for long, though. Soon everyone was sitting next to her with extra blankets from their beds thrown over all of them. It was breakfast-in-couch this morning. Beast Boy nudged her and started raving about how he had some great movie marathon ideas to keep her busy.

"You know, since you liked the one last night."

Starfire made her copious amounts of tea, toast and jam, while Robin kept her sane by talking to her about something else, like literature or strategy.

"We could play chess?" He asked. Beast Boy huffed in dismay at his movie marathon being snubbed.

She was about to say 'sure', but Cyborg had finally returned after an hour.

"Okay," He began and gained everyone's attention immediately. "I ran every diagnostic I could, turned off the whole system on the upper floors, re-wired your room's circuitry AND checked the sealant on the windows."

Everyone waited.

"And… nothing was wrong."

She frowned. "That's impossible. It was like ice, I could see my breath. The hallway was substantially warmer, so it had to have been…" She frowned deeper. "Just… my room?"

Cyborg shrugged. "I mean, it could totally have been wonky last night, but its fine now. It's even hot in there." He wiped his forehead. "Speaking of, how are y'all still alive under those blankets?"

Raven glared at him, as she was confined to this cushy prison for who knew how many days, but everyone else just shrugged.

"Suit yourselves. What are we up to?"

"Chess?" Robin suggested again.

Cyborg frowned. "No way, man! Come on, something we can ALL do?"

"MOVIE. MARATHON." Beast Boy argued _again_.

Cyborg shook his head. "No, no, no. Raven," She raised a brow. "Get the game."

"The game?" Starfire questioned.

Raven sighed and, sneezing as she did so, resurrected the game box from under her bed. This time it was tape-free.

"YES!" Beast Boy agreed. "This is perfect! This time, _I_ wanna be the villain!"

"Oh, no!" Cyborg countered. "It's time I put Robin in his place."

"Bring it on, Tin-Man!" Robin smirked.

"Glorious!" Starfire grinned. "Raven, this is agreeable?"

She sniffed and shrugged. "I guess."

Starfire frowned a little. "You three play the first circle. Raven and I shall rest. We shall… become vegetables, if you will."

Robin raised a finger in confusion. "Uhhh, Star, we really could use even teams…"

"Oh, no! You can't use your girlfriend as a crutch, and you don't have Raven to be your extra strategist this time. No, no, no. It's two on one, and let's see if the good guy wins _this_ time." Cyborg was ecstatic while Beast Boy grinned with his fangs showing.

Their fearless leader cracked his knuckles. "Bring. It. On."

Raven watched with actual interest, quietly allowing Starfire to methodically play with her hair. She feared that Robin would lose his Army of the Blessed because Cyborg had deployed his Wild Hunt card. There would be no way the army could make it through the forest without the General being hunted by the Black Beast of Gore. Unless Robin could roll higher than ten out of twelve, and even if he did, Beast Boy's spy was still somewhere infiltrating Robin's forces.

She shook her head. _What am I even saying?_ She couldn't deny that she really liked the RPG game that Beat Boy had brought home. It had the same feel of her dark fantasy books mixed with the intricate strategizing of chess. She almost wished she were playing, but then she sneezed again into her long sleeve and wished she were dead instead.

Ever since Trigon had been destroyed, she had known that there was a little less demonic energy within her, and that meant that Arella's human immune system was screwing her over.

 _Thanks, mom._ She grumbled internally, but secretly couldn't help but be overjoyed by being a little more human. You can't change your genes, but having a demonic tie like that severed did help get rid of some of the heartache. Even if she retained her grey complexion.

"You are feeling…" Starfire didn't seem like she knew what to ask. Clearly Raven wasn't feeling well, but she also wasn't dying so…

"It's okay, Star." She rested her chin on the back of the couch to watch the boys play their game at the table. "Thanks."

Starfire nodded and kept playing with Raven's hair. The boys finished their game by stomping Robin into the dust. He fumed about it but challenged them to a final rematch. A 'best two out of three'.

"You're on!" Beast Boy declared.

"But," Robin interjected. "I should get the girls back. If I lose again your data would only conclude that you're successful with a team. Which is what we all are, right? A team?"

Cyborg wasn't moved. "Oh, no you don't."

"Aw, come on," Beast Boy, out of the corner of his eye, saw the crestfallen look on Raven's face. He was just happy she was finally interested in something that he also liked. "Let em' play."

Cyborg huffed and grumbled that 'Beast Boy better not mess this up'. Beast Boy just grinned and shrugged. Raven's ears perked up and she slowly shuffled over to the table with Starfire, keeping a blanket wrapped around her and tissues nearby.

"How do you people do this whole sick thing?" She sighed as she sat down. Starfire fetched her more tea.

"Actually, Raven," Starfire chimed in. "When the people on my planet aren't feeling well, the consequences can be a tad catastrophic. That's why all our homes and buildings are made of the strongest space rock from Runeterra Omega." She set the tea down. "Your condition does not seem nearly as dire."

Raven almost felt chided, but she smiled. "You're right." _I guess I need to keep it in perspective._

"Okay, BB." Cyborg reshuffled the cards and handed Beast Boy a die. "Roll for who goes first."

Beast Boy rolled a two. He could feel Cyborg trying to murder him telepathically.

"Wow, hard to beat." Robin snickered. "Here we go." He rolled a six. "Looks like we're first!"

The game played out nearly the same way as before. Robin's team was just barely in the lead with Raven's strategic maneuvering, but Cyborg and Beast Boy's brute force was incredibly overwhelming this time. Raven found herself struggling as the game went on. Her senses must have been more impaired than she thought, and her vision was starting to go blurry. She could have sworn she was seeing the small dragon game piece again on the board. But she'd melted it, so it must have been one of the trolls. At this point it was turning into a dizzy, purple-black blob. Her ears were ringing and she couldn't understand her teammates shouting anymore. Her head swayed back and forth, and she felt a sickening lurch in her stomach right before she passed out.

…

Beast Boy had started to think that Raven was getting him sick when his head went all swimmy during the game, but when her head hit the table his hair started to bristle on his scalp. His instincts told him that, perhaps, something was actually wrong. Suddenly, everyone was looking like they were about to hit the table, too. Alarmed, he shook his head like a dog and attempted to stand up from the game, but only resulted in knocking over the chair behind him. An instant later he was falling, and crashed his butt hard onto the kitchen floor. He lay back on the cool tile and felt like he was going to vomit.

"Wh-what's happening?" He murmured nauseously before he, too passed out.

And then woke up on warm dirt that was bathed in the light of a setting sun. He rose lightly from his position and shook his head again, feeling queasy and disoriented. _Sunset? It's not even two in the afternoon yet_ , he thought to himself. _And how did I get outside_?

He desperately hoped he wasn't sleepwalking in search of food again. Especially since he still was on the fence between vomiting and not vomiting. A groan behind him made him whip around too fast in reflex, and then he did throw up behind the nearest bush. Actually, it was more like a red fern of some sort.

The groaning behind him turned into a voice. "BB, you okay?" Cyborg questioned him, concerned. He had pulled himself up from the dirt and was now standing, taking a quick survey of the surrounding area. "Whoa…" He breathed.

"What?" Beast Boy moaned, struggling to rise from behind the fern.

Cyborg gestured out into the distance. "Where are we?"

The dirt they had woken up on was, in fact, a long twisting road that wove its way in and out of forest. Beyond, and very far away, was a massive medieval castle made of black and grey brick with dark purple roofing. The world around them was clearly not the one they'd left behind, but it was still completely real.

"I…have no idea." Beast Boy answered, scratching his head. "Wait…" His pointed ears twitched a little.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked. Beast Boy pointed to the sky above them.

Robin was falling.

"Ahhh!"

"I got you!" Cyborg screamed up at him like a maniac while Beast Boy quickly tried to think up a soft, fat animal for him to land on. "Robin, I got you!"

"Are polar bears fluffy enough!?"

"I got you!"

Suddenly, an orange-purple blur appeared from somewhere out of sight and caught Robin mid-air. Starfire gently set him on the ground next to her companions.

Robin was a little shaky, but composed himself quickly. "Phew…" He breathed. "That was close."

"Indeed." Starfire agreed. "Tell me friends, where are we?"

Cyborg checked his scanners, like he does, but was unable to place where they were or the source that put them there. Then he frowned. "So…you're not gonna like this, because I've said this before and no one ever likes it when I _do_ say this—"

"Just spit it out, dude." Beast Boy pulled on one of the leaves of the nearest tree and found it to be un-pullable. It wasn't coming off. _Strange_ , he thought. "We can take it."

"We're still…inside the Tower…" He finished.

Everyone groaned as a collective. It was frustrating how often this happened to them. "Of course we are." Robin seethed. "This must be something…supernatural?"

Beast Boy turned and frowned. "Speaking of supernatural, where's Raven?"

Everyone looked around them, and counted four instead of five.

"Crap." Cyborg slapped his hand to his head.

Starfire became worried. "But…Raven, she is ill!" She flew up high to scan the forest canopy. "What if she is harmed or she is unable to journey and find us!?" She called down at them in a panic.

"Can you sense her? Track her? Is she on the radar?" Robin turned to the team's pair of GPS systems. Cyborg and Beast Boy shrugged and set to work. Starfire could be heard shouting Raven's name in the sky.

After a few minutes of pacing the perimeter, and seeing the tail of a bloodhound pop-up here and there behind bushes and trees, they re-grouped.

"So far, nothing" Cyborg called over his shoulder. "We should just start walking."

"I'm not picking up her scent, either." Beast Boy agreed, returning to them.

"Start walking where?" Robin frowned at the castle in the distance. "None of this makes sense, and if we're still in the tower that means someone is messing with us."

"Or it's Raven pulling a spooky-unconscious-Halloween episode again." Beast Boy offered, worried. "I don't like it that she's not here."

"It could be her doing?" Cyborg shrugged.

Robin shook his head. "She was with us during her horror-movie break down, remember?"

"So?"

"So this isn't like the last time."

Cyborg crossed his arms, irritated by all the questions up in the air. "So who's doing this, huh? Because I'd like to find out and smack the crap outta them."

Starfire floated down, defeated. Her toes touched the earth and she sank down sadly. "Perhaps it is someone we've never encountered before?"

Robin started counting on his fingers. "So we have a few options. It could be either: Control Freak, Mumbo, Mad Mod or Master of Games."

"Or Larry." Beast Boy grinned.

Robin shuddered. "I don't think so, but let's hope not…"

"Seriously, guys, let's just start walking." Cyborg starting trotting off in the direction of the Castle.

"No!" Robin interjected. "Every time we get sucked into another dimension or into a magic hat we never think things through until it's almost too late. Let's stay and talk this over."

"OR," Cyborg snapped back, "Raven's somewhere in the woods, hit her head on a rock or is shivering, sick and cold in the dark."

Beast Boy's ears flattened in guilt and worry. "He's right, she's our first priority."

Starfire nodded, worried, behind Beast Boy. They all looked to Robin who was clearly outnumbered. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine." He conceded. "But we stay on our guard and we do NOT split up."

"We're already split up…" Beast Boy grumbled to himself, and they started walking.

Starfire floated gently ahead of them. "Perhaps we shall hear her coughs from afar and locate her through her disease?"

"It's a cold, not the Ebola virus." Cyborg pointed out, sarcastically. He backed down when it looked like Star was going to rip him a new one in Tamaranean.

 _Such a Clorbag_

Their walk pulled them deeper into the woods, seemingly endless, and yet the castle didn't look any closer than it had been before. The sun, just setting before, was now disappearing behind some mountains in the distance. It grew darker with every step, and the team crawled their way through the quiet forest.

Beast Boy groaned at their snail's pace, and briefly considered forming into a cheetah to leave them all in the dust. Except, between Robin's seething expression, Starfire's worry and Cyborg's determination to get going, he thought it would be pretty rude to leave them behind to themselves. Not to mention ill-advised.

The tension in the group was so thick he was sure he could take a generous bite out of it. There was a small, yet very detectable power struggle between the two older males of the team, and Beast Boy was NOT about to rock that boat. They rarely had these moments anymore, not since the team had been getting started in their early years. He wanted to chalk it up to worry over Raven, but he also thought everyone was frustrated with being 'had' by some random villain again.

He grumbled internally about how his life seemed to stay pretty much the same no matter how old he got. Villains were constantly trying to mess with them, things were always a little more rough than he'd like. Kidnapped friends, broken bones, a city that (as of right now) was totally fine. His team? Well, now that he was growing older he realized that they each had baggage and flaws that he'd never considered in his youth. He also realized that he'd started collecting his own baggage. The Tara thing? That had messed him up pretty bad. He'd trusted her so much, loved her, put all he had into giving her everything she'd ever needed or wanted. What had he gotten out of that? Heartbreak, that's what.

His family? The Doom Patrol? He was growing older without them. He was changing, seeing new things; making his own choices. Would they be proud of who he'd become? What would they say to his height now? The last time he'd seen them he was still sixteen or so. Now…now he was nineteen and taller than he'd ever thought he'd get.

There was a lot that Beast Boy considered in the silence of their walk, and he'd tried to put the worry out of his mind, but right now, he was just frustrated and annoyed with his friends.

 _Like Raven. Who just up and disappears the way that she does?_ He fretted angrily. _When we find her, I'm giving her a stern talking-to about inter-dimensional homing devices. Or installing a pet-microchip._ After all, Robin made _him_ get one.

"Wait," He asked. "ARE we in another dimension if we're still in the Tower?"

"Uh…" Cyborg frowned at his arm. "I don't… _think_ so?"

Robin thought about it. "I don't think so, either. It could be that we're all hallucinating within the same frequency, and that our bodies are still slumped over that RPG game." He finished.

"Oh…" Beast Boy frowned. "That's gonna be a major headache afterward. I'm pretty sure I took the chair out with me."

Cyborg patted his shoulder. "No worries. I'm probably drooling all over the board game, so sorry about that. I'll get us a new one."

They laughed a little. Starfire shivered, her nerves were on edge. "You don't suppose…" She began. "That we are being watched?"

"What would make you say that?" Robin asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know."


	3. Ruling Class

**Sorry for the late/early? update. I was planning on making it every Sunday, but had final exams before break. Now I'll be sure to update on Sundays for you guys. Thanks everyone who reviewed! Let me know what you think, and feel free to throw in suggestions!**

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Far away, Raven was just waking up, cold and shivering on a soft, red plush couch in what looked to be an old, British study. It had a roaring fire-place, a large Oakwood desk with two, large red chairs. One was behind the desk and one was in front. The  
red couch was perched right next to the fire, but she was still cold. There were no windows, but plenty of amazing paintings of nature, hunting hounds and an ancient black and purple castle.

Her comforter had disappeared so she pulled the sleeves of her crewneck down as far over her hands as she could, got up and shuffled around in her sweatpants. Earlier, she had blamed her lack of proper dress on being sick, but now she felt totally unprepared  
for wherever she was, or whatever was about to happen.

No cloak.

No hood.

No clue.

 _Where am I?_

She approached the painting of the castle tentatively, and reached out a finger to trace the frame. It was ancient, gilded, and done in cherry wood. It had a deep red that reflected nicely in the firelight, while the dark pallet of the castle made the  
whole thing like an earie portal to some sort of dark tomb. Raven didn't know where she was, but the hairs standing up on the back of her neck suggested that it wasn't a nice place.

While tracing the painting she began to feel a sneeze coming on. She bent her head and scrunched up her nose, praying that it wouldn't give her another migraine like the last one. She felt it gearing up, building inside her, as if someone had cocked a  
shotgun and was about to pull the trigger.

"Ah-ah-aaahhh," She breathed.

"No, no, no!" came a voice from behind her. Strong hands spun her around and she screamed, "Choo!" effectively sneezing all over the person's chest.

"Good," They sighed. "Didn't need you snuffing up that painting. It truly is a work of art. Don't you think, Raven?"

She froze in the arms of this strange man, her nose dripping in snot; her eyes were wide. His hands, his voice. It was all too familiar. She slowly gazed up at him, and tried not to explode. "Malchior."

"Sweet Raven." He pushed back her snotty hair and dabbed at her face with his handkerchief. "I apologize. To think that you would be sick during our reunion? Had I but known, I never would have struck at this moment."

She frowned in confusion and he pushed her backwards. She fell over the back of the couch and landed in a heap on its plush cushions. It didn't hurt, but it startled her into a coughing fit, to which she felt tears spring to her eyes from the strain.  
Her head was throbbing, her powers were erratic, and there he was. Like last time he was smirking and enjoying all her pain and suffering like a sadistic parasite with magical powers.

Except this time he _looked_ different.

Instead of his imitation of the great wizard Rorek, he was taller, darker. Sleeker. His skin was more tanned, his eyes a shocking green. He had jet black hair with tints of plum purple thrown in. He was the essence of his real self, his dragon self, yet  
he appeared to be a common (albeit oddly dressed) human.

"Admiring the new form, I see?" He took the chair facing the desk and pulled it over to sit next to her, putting himself in her space. She felt squirmy and dirty and terrified, all the while feeling sick and miserable. She scooted to the farthest end  
of the couch.

Far away from him.

"Don't you love it?" He raised a hand and admired his tan skin. His nails were longer and sharper than a normal human, and he had small black scales that poked in and out of small bits of tendon and skin. "I stole it from someone, though I couldn't tell  
you who. Neither can he, of course, he's no longer with us. But he's just what I was looking for."

She gritted her teeth. "I don't care, why—"

"You mean you don't love it?" He seemed wounded, but it was a deeply sarcastic reply. "Not what you're, how you say, _'into'_? It doesn't attract your tastes?" He laughed maliciously. "Oh, well. I've heard that women can be impossible to please."

Raven stood up quickly from the couch and got a head rush, yelling: "STOP! I don't want to hear whatever you have to say!" She swayed on her feet, cursing her body. Cursing the AC back at the Tower that she so desperately wanted to return to right now.  
"I demand that you release me." Her voice took on its cold, monotonous tone. "I'll send you back to where you belong, believe that."

He shook his head and 'tsk-ed' her. "No, no, Raven." He stood and reached for her arm, roughly pulling her back down on the couch. His eyes were sharp and terrible, his snake fangs were poking holes in his human lips. He couldn't have had this form very  
long, he clearly wasn't used to it. He used his handkerchief to pat at the bloody droplets. "Oh, how embarrassing." Then he licked his lips.

She shivered.

"Oh, you're cold." He grinned a fang-y smile. "Here."

From the air a large, soft, warm blanket materialized and gently floated down to land on her. She pushed it off of her and glared at him. Upon the blanket was a gloriously stitched portrait of the white grimoire that she'd once trapped this horrible creature  
in. He frowned.

"Don't like that either, eh? Not up to your _tastes_ , hm?" He hissed. Suddenly the blanket enclosed her within it and she was fastened tightly to the blanket and the couch. "There. Now you know what it feels like." He snapped his fingers and the  
fire roared up from embers to full strength. "What do you think?"

"Cozy." She spit.

"Good." He seethed.

They glared at one another a moment. Raven couldn't use her powers beneath the blanket. She assumed he'd charmed it, and she wanted to rip it apart with her teeth. It was a few moments more before Raven summoned the enough courage to confront him again.

"Where am I?"

"Titan's Tower."

She frowned. "No, you're lying."

He shook his head, grinning.

"Tell me _where I. AM_." She growled. He ignored her and the flames in the fireplace slowly burned hotter and angrier.

There was a moment of dark, brooding quiet.

She shivered again, but tried to hide it this time. If he increased the flames any more, she'd boil alive.

He stood up abruptly and crossed the room. "I was deeply hurt by your melting of my little 'gift'. _Deeply_ hurt." He stopped pacing in front of a wall that was entirely covered in shelves of books, vials and maps. He gingerly plucked a small dragon  
figurine from an eye-level shelf and pinched it between two long, claw-like nails. "I just had to punish you for that insult. A frigid night's sleep seemed to be appropriate, but I'd never dreamed that you'd grow ill. Tell, me, Sweet Raven, have you  
changed since last we met?"

It was the exact same, cheap-plastic-looking dragon that she'd stepped on last night. She tried not to mentally smack herself but couldn't help it. Of _course_ it had to have been more than coincidence. Of _course_ it had to be the beginning  
of her worst nightmare come to life.

"Why am I here? Where am I?" She accused.

He set the small dragon back on the shelf and returned to his vacant seat. "You're still in the tower." He repeated; emotionless.

She shook with illness and fury. "Liar."

He laughed, showing teeth. "You're right, I am lying. But wouldn't you have been grateful if I were telling the truth?"

She struggled against her binds. It was a soft, warm bond but it was still keeping her prisoner. She sneezed again.

"Really, Raven. A mortal's common cold? I thought you were better than that." He reached over and patted her feet that were covered in blankets. His hand slowly trailed up her leg before he removed it to gently touch her face. She wanted to gag. His eyes  
captured hers with a dark intensity. "You _have_ changed."

"Why am I here?" She asked again, ignoring his disgusting touch.

He rolled his eyes and released her. "Repeating yourself like this is so annoying. Really, if you you're trying to interrogate me, shouldn't I be the one bound and helpless?"

"You would be if I had my powers."

He waved a dismissive hand at her. "Your powers would be useless in your current condition against me, even without the restraints."

"You don't know that." She bared her teeth.

"RAVEN." He hushed her roughly. She felt that fear again. She'd never been afraid of anyone but her father, but this was someone who had shattered her once.

She feared, being especially vulnerable as she was, that he would do it again. He'd built her up; told her things. Promised her things; a future of happiness and companionship. The end to her loneliness.

He'd lied.

Left in the dust, she'd felt slapped. She'd never been privy to an insult of that caliber, because she'd never let herself be played. She'd had so much hope then. Hope that she'd never thought she could possess, and he'd ground it up in his teeth and  
spit it back in her face.

She hated him.

"I've brought you here to…catch up." He smiled in a twisted version of warmth. "You used to love to talk to me."

His lip wasn't bleeding anymore, instead it was swollen and angry looking. His human form was going to fall apart if his dragon side kept seeping in like that.

"Would you join me in a game?"

A table appeared next to couch, the fire bathed the pieces, shiny cards and die in a glowing, warm light. On the table was the RPG game that Beast Boy had brought home. The one that she loved; the one that she was playing before passing out.

 _Before I wound up…here._ She thought.

The pieces suddenly took on familiar forms and she felt like crying, screaming and cursing. Instead she monotonously breathed out, "My friends. What have you done to my friends?"

Malchior reached over and gingerly plucked the Starfire piece from the board. "Look at her, a real princess in my fantasy land." He held her out to the roaring fire. "Should I melt her like you did my gift?"

Raven's eyes widened. "NO! Please!" Her gaze darted from piece to his face, gauging his reaction.

He grinned again, opening his wounds. His face was contorted into a snake-like sneer and she wanted to throw up. "There it is: motivation." He patted her feet again. "Would you like to return home, Raven? Then play the game with me, win, and try not to  
get your troops killed in the process." He winked.

…

Robin had to grab Cyborg by the arm and force him to lower his weapon. Five trees had already been blown away by his sonic canon and he didn't need whatever creatures lurking here to come down on his team. Hard.

"Enough!" He commanded. "You don't know what's out there, calm down!"

Cyborg wasn't having it. "We've been walking for almost two hours and my scanners indicate that we LITERALLY, HAVENT, MOVED!" He pointed at the dirt beneath them. "It's like we've been on a treadmill! FOR TWO HOURS."

"Almost two hours." Beast Boy threw in.

"I'm gonna kill you, small-fry!" Cyborg moved to smack him on the head but missed.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Face it, you needed the exercise."

If Cyborg's robot eye could twitch, it totally would have right then. "I hate you." He stated, calmly.

Robin put his face in his hand. "Okay, so plan A didn't work. Plan B?"

They all looked at each other.

"Scream for help?" Beast Boy offered.

Starfire frowned. "Perhaps we must accomplish something?"

Suddenly, an envelope fell from the sky and landed at their feet.

"STAR!" Beast Boy cried. "Way to GO!"

She looked dumbfounded. "But, I did nothing!"

Robin had already picked up the envelope and used his bird-a-rang to slice it open. He ignored the fancy, dark purple seal for now. "Greetings, Players. Welcome to the Game. Your hero for this round will be Player 1: Raven."

He looked at them all.

"Keep going," Cyborg urged.

Robin frowned down at the paper. "Your villain for this round will be Player 2: …" He paused.

"Who is it? Master of Games?" Beast Boy asked. "Sounds like him. Or Control Freak!"

"Malchior." Robin finished.

The dread fell around them like ice water.

"What!" Starfire gasped.

Robin kept going, his voice ever more grave this time. "Your first quest needs to be accomplished without the help of your hero. Please scavenge this forest for your personal chests of loot. Within will be all the supplies you need to succeed, provided  
that you play by the rules. _Heroes, after all, don't cheat_." He showed them the scratched handwriting of Malchior who had written in the margins of the otherwise typed letter. "Finally, you will report back here, if you can find your chests  
and make it out alive. Good luck, Team Hero."

The forest around them creaked and moaned. A wind that had not been there all day picked up and swept through their hair. The sun was just about to set, and distant shining lights burst into the sky. Like searchlights or the Bat Signal, they burst into  
the waning twilight, cutting through the darkness. Each one was a different color: Red, Green, Orange and Blue.

Starfire took off like a bullet toward the orange light that was clearly meant for her. "Starfire!" Robin called after her, concerned.

"Let's go!" Beast Boy started to run but Robin grabbed him.

"NO. We don't know what's happening!"

Beast Boy's nostrils flared. "Yes." He said with finality. Robin was shocked. "We do." He burst his way into the forest as a cheetah and disappeared.

Cyborg and Robin looked at each other before both, exasperated, ran after their team. "Titans go…" Robin mumbled under his breath.

Hidden now beneath the trees, neither of them saw the dark, flying shapes take off after Starfire in hot pursuit.

…

"Stop!" Raven cried. She reached out a hand and grasped Malchior's wrist. He'd allowed her to sit up straight in the middle of the couch and gave her freedom to move her arms. Her legs were still trapped within the blanket and her butt was securely fastened  
to the red, plush cushion.

He patted her hand, infuriating her more. It took no effort for him to wrench her hand off of him. His horrible nails scraped her skin in the process. "Oh, Sweet Raven, I'm merely playing the game."

"You're cheating!" She winced at the scrape on her hand. "Call off the wyverns."

"No."

Her pleading did nothing to change his mind. She watched helplessly as moving, winged pieces traveled along the game board. They were slow, and blurry, but she could see them for what they were. Her orange piece, her warrior princess, was being chased  
down by dark shapes. As per the rules, she wasn't allowed to help her friends in this first quest, and if she cheated, she'd lose by default. _You can do it, Starfire._ She thought. _Please_.

A changeling, a knight, a warrior princess and a cyborg. They were the only things she had. A few trap cards, a spell card here and there made up the rest of her deck. Malchior held a whole stack of nasty, dark things that could, no, _would_ prey  
upon her friends.

She sneezed into her sleeve and set her gaze. She was focused, a strategist. She would do this.

Or they would die.

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 **A/N: I'm really excited to work on this story. Please let me know what you think, and if you have a critique they're much appreciated! (Just be nice ;) )**


	4. Acts of Whim

**A/N: Hey Guys! I know I said I'd update every Sunday, but of course I had to skip Christmas. I cuddled my dog, got some new clothes and even got a Christmas kiss from my lovely boyfriend. Now I'm back to work, and because tomorrow is New Years Day, I decided to make this my last post of the year! Whoot!**

 **Thanks everyone who reviewed, and I love your enthusiasm. You make me want to keep updating. To make up for the wait, this chapter is double the size of the other ones. I hope you like it, and let me know!**

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR! Goodbye 2016! (Thank the Gods).**

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Starfire was just not having it today. "GET. OFF. ME!" She screamed. The swarm of wyverns were upon her. She roared, eyes flaming and hands sparking with fiery energy. She fried two of them, and they fell dead and smoking to the forest beneath her. She hoped desperately that none of her friends were below her. The other three flapped their leathery wings and screamed in her direction, their fangs were green and they had no eyes. She screamed back and punched one of them in the damn face. She was always a warrior before she was ever a princess.

The other two attempted to latch onto her again, but she threw a bolt into the wing of one, burning a hole in it, and it too fell to the ground. The one that still had teeth got hold of her boot and tore it off of her, but that was all it got. She kicked it where its eyes would have been and collapsed its skull. The final one, the toothless one, screamed one last time before it tried to retreat. She chased after it with fervor and pulled it by the slimy tail. With a battle cry, she spun it around and let it loose into the nearest tree trunk. She winced at the _crunch_ sound that it made, but sighed in relief. She took off again without haste in the direction of her orange beam of light.

Beneath her in the trees, Cyborg and Robin were wondering why the Hell flaming dinosaurs were falling on their heads. Cyborg blasted one away with his sonic cannon before the final one made a horrible sound when it collided with a tree above them. They gave each other a look and just kept running. It made a thud behind them.

"What are we looking for again?" Robin shouted.

Cyborg pointed. "We gotta split up."

Their beams of light were shining in opposite directions of one another. Robin was about to claim that splitting up was a stupid idea when they could easily go together to each chest, but Cyborg already took off.

"This is why we need Raven as our strategist." He grumbled between panting. He raced off in the direction of his own.

They hadn't seen anything at this point yet anyway.

He rounded a tree and hopped over a large root. When his feet hit the ground they were swept out from under him by a heavy force. Bearing down upon him was a great, smelly orc-looking thing. It had a club in its hand that looked like a small tree.

"Okay…" He frowned. "Here we GO!"

The thing raised its club and swung it down, intending to smash him flat. Robin sprang into action, but his cape got caught on the club and he was yanked back to the ground. His elbow grazed a rock, sending a shockwave up his arm.

 _Oh, it's so on_. He bit down hard, clenching its teeth. The thing raised its club again, setting him free. He swept up beneath it, dragging a long vine in his hands. He wrapped the vine beneath the legs of the creature and pulled, hard. The orcs' feet sprang together and it tripped, crashing down to the earth. When it seemed secure, Robin took his staff and gave the orc a good whack to the noggin. It was out like a light.

Robin panted, wiping his face on his sleeve. He frowned down at the thing, then back at his own beam of light and kept going.

In the meantime, Cyborg was fighting off some sort of living plant/vine that was trying to strangle him to death. He blasted and cut and chopped his way through, but the green monster kept coming back to get him. He took off running again, freeing his arm from the vine's grasp, but just as he picked up speed, something tripped him and held his ankles in a vice grip. He hit the ground, kicking up a considerable amount of dust. He coughed it out and spit a rock from between his teeth.

"After I get free again, I swear I'm gonna –." But the vine silenced him and started dragging him back toward a dark corner of the forest. He struggled and tried to pry the vines apart with his brute strength, but couldn't apply the right amount of force. He was almost about to give up hope when suddenly the vines caught fire. Shrieking _,_ like only evil haunted vines could, they disintegrated and he was once again free.

Cyborg spit the leaves out of his mouth and tried to find the source of the fire that saved him. Beast Boy stepped out of the woods in full-fantasy-gear. He wore armor on one arm and was given a pair of gloves with retractable claws. He had a hood and long boots that laced up and seemed to be reinforced with some sort of scaly skin. Cyborg almost laughed, if it weren't for the serious look on Beast Boy's face.

"We're in the game." He stated, simply. He held up a card that contained the 'Green Fire' spell from their game nights. The one that he'd used to save his friend. "We're stuck in my stupid game."

Cyborg could see the anger and guilt on his best friend's face and shook his head. "Don't beat yourself up, this isn't your fault. Honestly, if we're still in the tower, this is probably all in our heads. Malchior must have planned this out, extensively."

"You don't think my game was cursed?"

He shrugged down at Beast Boy. "I don't know, maybe Malchior created the game in the first place and sold it to you. Does it matter?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "No. What matters is…" he paused and reached into his pocket, took a deep breath and recollected himself. "I got my stuff first!" He held out an intricate deck of cards wrapped in a leather string. "Not to mention, I look _amazing_!"

Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Just help me get my stuff. I need to be out of all this nature."

"Those vines got you good." Beast Boy smirked.

"Oh yeah?" Cyborg accused. "And what did you fight?"

Beast Boy shuddered. "The evil rabbit from Monty Python…"

…

The Titans reconvened at the entrance of the forest, each one decked out in something fantasy-medieval looking. Starfire's outfit looked like it _had_ been a fancy green dress, but she'd torn it and turned it into a somewhat sexy pair of loose-fitting pants and a tunic. Robin got slapped on the back of the head by Cyborg for staring so long at her. Robin himself was decked out in some Boy-Wonder version of Robin Hood, except instead of a bow and quiver, he was outfitted with throwing knives, a staff on his back, and a hero's sword.

"Of course." Beast Boy commented, jealously.

Finally, Cyborg was outfitted in full strong armor with a massive axe. He was fully convinced that nothing would be able to touch him.

"If you are able to move…" Starfire hinted.

In everyone's treasure chest was both clothing, boots and a large adventurer's pack.

They were additionally each gifted a deck of cards that suggested a lot of horrible scenarios where they might need them. Things like:

 **Vixen's Taunt** : distract up to four enemies at once for ten seconds.

 **The Mad Hatter's Tea** : poison a wave of enemies with a cloud of purple miasma (to prevent personal death, administer an antidote card _before_ or immediately _after_ use).

 **Apple Core** : a meager snack that will either replenish your health or deplete your stamina (roll the die above a 6).

Beast Boy frowned at the last one. "Health and Stamina…" He looked up above everyone's head. "None of us have a health or stamina bar…?"

Robin reached into his pack and pulled out a small mirror. "It's here." He held it up. It showed their faces staring back at them, but above their heads were stamina and health bars. Above Starfire's was a green for health and a blue mana bar for magic.

"Star, you can do magic?" Beast Boy was amazed.

She frowned and attempted something spectacular, but produced a regular, shining star-bolt. "I think that is what it means by, 'magic'." She declared.

"Wait, are our abilities limited by this game?" Cyborg asked.

The green titan shrugged and became a sparrow, flitting back and forth above their heads. When he was satisfied, he returned to human form and pulled out his own mirror. "Whoa…yeah it does." His green health bar was the same, but his yellow stamina was down a little. "That's not good."

Robin waved away the idea. "We know what we can handle, I don't think we'll need to worry about it."

"But, dude, I have way more juice than this stupid bar says I do!"

Suddenly a letter fell from the sky, again. It hit Beast Boy on the head mid-sentence and he yipped in surprise. It fell into his hands and he warily glanced down at it, hoping that it was a congratulatory letter and not a: "I've killed your friend and you're trapped in fantasy-land forever," kind of thing.

Robin nodded for him to open it, and cautiously, he read what it said. "Greetings Players. Congratulations on completing your first quest. You have all gained one level and are now fully equipped to begin your journey."

He shrugged at them all. Robin sighed. He dug into his pack and pulled out a small notebook that had statistics written all over it. His read:

Robin: Hero

Level: 1

Skill: Ranger/Knight

Health: 570

Stamina: 650

Items: etc.

"How do you keep finding all of this!?" Beast Boy accused, exasperated.

Robin frowned. "Did no one think to look in the pack and take inventory of their supplies before returning to the rendezvous point?"

"Uh…" They all said in unison.

"If we make it out of here, I'm going to run you all through some serious drills." He grumbled at them.

Upon further inspection, it was discovered that they each had a stats book.

Each one was classified "Hero" with varying stamina/mana depending on their size or strength. Starfire and Cyborg were practically gods, but all of their health was at the same level. They were all level one and had different items, but they each had different skills.

Cyborg was classified as a "Marauder/Berserker", Beast Boy was a "Shapeshifter/Assassin" (Which he loved), and Starfire was listed "Mage/Summoner".

"What do I 'summon'?" She asked. They all shrugged.

"Beast Boy, keep reading." Robin urged.

He scanned the page for where he left off. "Uh… the road ahead is treacherous and long. Your goal is to make it to Castle Roe and save your Hero from the clutches of evil. Provided are instruction manuals for further inquiry. You have three days to complete your quest, or your Hero…" Beast Boy looked up. "Will…die."

Starfire put her hands to her chest and Robin clenched his teeth. Cyborg growled "I'm gonna bash his face in with my new axe."

Robin raised a brow. "I think it's more like slicing his face in half at that point."

Cyborg looked at his massive axe and then back at his team. "That'll work."

Beast Boy yelped when the letter disintegrated in his hands, the fragments spelling "BEGIN" on the ground in front of them. Robin held up his mirror to express that they currently had a time limit.

 ** _2:23:55_**

"Two days, twenty three hours and fifty-five minutes." He read.

"Let's get going, then." Cyborg announced. They all nodded and began running down the path.

…

"Oh, come on." He smirked over tea. "You must admit that this is fun."

"This is cruel." She replied, simply. She refused to touch her cup. He said it was green tea, but she thought that it was a little too green for that. "Since when are you the type to come up with some elaborate hex that throws us all into a stupid fantasy game?"

"Since I realized playing games with humans was so fun." He replied, pointedly. He was taking about the time he'd played with her emotions to help free his stupid, scaly ass from that book.

She didn't take the bait. "So for three days you're going to keep us locked in our heads?"

He shook his head. "This whole endeavor has lasted seven minutes so far. By the end of "three days" you'll have been out for an hour and a half. That is, if your pawns survive long enough to save you." He set his teacup back on the saucer.

She disliked the *clink* noise that it made. Everything that he did seemed to make her skin crawl. By now she was growing frightened and frustrated, but she had been through a lot since their last encounter. She even surmised that she was stronger than him now. But, even so, until she figured out how to break this hex upon them all, she'd have to play the game, because everything that was happening felt so real.

"So where are you in the real world?" She asked.

He raised his eyes from his claws (which he was admiring so fully) and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You're not in the tower." She stated.

He smirked, his fangs showing again. "How do you know?"

"Oh stop." Raven rolled her eyes. "You keep bouncing in and out of dimensions, I was just curious as to where your…exploits had ended."

His eyes sparked green fire. "I wouldn't _have had_ any exploits if you weren't so keen on keeping me a prisoner away from reality."

"I…" His tone was biting, so she drew back from her interrogation. It was so difficult to find the line with him. She felt like she was constantly teetering back and forth upon his patience. How was she supposed to puzzle this out if everything she asked poked the dragon?

Raven spent the next awkward silence gazing around the room, looking for clues or hints. His magic was strong, but archaic, and she had spent a lot of time studying the grimoire since she'd freed the mutants living in the tower basement. His methods and history made more sense to her, but understanding another sorcerer's powers was always a difficult thing.

"You should try paying more attention to the game." He mumbled through her thoughts.

She snapped back to attention and gazed down at the board. The pieces were now moving together, which is where she knew they'd be the strongest, but their road was headed toward a huge river and an old bridge. Raven thought it looked harmless, but gazing at Malchior's stolen face, and the expression he wore, made her fear otherwise.

She took stock of her playing cards and found them to be far less in number than his own deck.

"Here," He handed her a small journal.

She took it tentatively from him, wary of his intentions. When she opened it, she was bombarded with a detailed list of information on her friends. Their levels, ranks, skills and stats. She knew every card that they had and what each of their weapons and armor were capable of. She smiled a little to herself at Beast Boy's armor. There were small sketches of her friends next to their stats, and his was like something out of a movie. She thought he was probably happy with his new outfit, as it gave his taller frame a spiky overtone. He looked like a _Lord of the Rings_ assassin, or something out of _Dragon Age_.

"You have all the tools to beat me, Raven." Malchior hissed lightly. "Can you, though?"

"Can you wipe that blood off your face?" She shot back.

He tapped his lip with one clawed finger and sighed. "Ah, yes."

"You'll tear that human's body apart." She bit.

He frowned. "This vessel, though attractive in a minor way, is not something I regularly show concern for."

"That's probably why your lip looks like it's been through a grinder."

His grin widened. "Oh, come on Raven. My sweet. My pet." He leaned in, his horrible, bloody lips nearly touching hers. With quiet whispers he breathed, "Just one taste, dear?"

She gathered her illness and coughed loudly and roughly on his face. Little drops of spit hit him in the eye. Agitated, he leaned away from her and wiped his face with a dark handkerchief.

"Don't ever come near me again." She threatened.

He huffed and let the blood flow freely just to spite her. She wondered if it was more beneficial for her to wait out the "ticking time-clock" that was this new form of his. While she felt sympathy for the poor soul he'd stolen, she'd rather it fell to pieces than be stuck here a moment longer.

As her team approached the bridge, she picked up a die and shook it in her hands. Malchior rolled higher, so he was going first.

…

Beast Boy approached the bridge at the black river, fully expecting to find a troll or a wizard who would ask them questions before they were allowed to cross.

"I'm thinking," Cyborg commented, "That Malchior is more interested in our deaths than riddles."

Beast Boy scrunched his nose up at the smell of the dark water. It looked polluted and angry. "You're probably right."

"Why?" Robin interjected, unsheathing his sword and scanning the waters of the river. "What is this whole thing really about? I mean, we're trapped in the tower, dressed like _The_ _Lord of the Rings_ , and we're missing Raven." He felt the balance of the blade in his hand and thought that it was a good fit.

"He's…" Beast Boy thought. "He's trying to get to her. To tear her down again."

"To what end?" Robin looked out across his team. "What could he possibly gain from all of this? Even if we lose, what does he get?"

Beast Boy ground his teeth together. "He's –"

Suddenly the water exploded behind him raining black drops down on them all. He whipped around and saw a huge, slithering sea-serpent. It was sharp with needles poking out of its skin. It was a dull, grey-blue; the color of a corpse. It oozed black goo from its eye-less sockets.

"-disgusting." Beast Boy finished.

Above the monster's head was a health bar and a name: "Leviathan, the Drowning God".

"Titans! GO!" Robin cried.

They sprang into action, the waters roiling with black goo and foam. The sound of star bolts and sonic blasts filled the air, and for a while it seemed to be working.

"Fall back!" Robin commanded. The team hesitated at the water's edge before coming back to stand with their leader. The thing screamed and hissed, its serpent head searched for them without sight, its long tongue flicking at them. "Nothing's working, we need a new strategy."

"What do you mean it's not working?" Cyborg accused, angrily. He was panting, clearly tiring from the ordeal.

Robin pointed at the health bar. It had hardly moved. The serpent was still in the green; perfectly healthy.

"New strategy…? Oh, DUH!" Beast Boy exclaimed. He dug into his pack and pulled out the deck of cards. "Does anyone have dice?"

They caught on quickly, each member of the team pulling out their own small decks. Robin shook his head. "I think Raven has the dice, remember?"

"All we have to do is pull as many spell and trap cards as we can, weaken that ugly worm, and pray that Raven rolls higher than an eight." Beast Boy said with conviction. Robin smiled and nodded.

He set his pack down and began to rifle through his cards. "Okay, we need a plan –"

"I invoke the 'purple miasma'!" Starfire announced, using her "mage" status to cast spell cards. A purple smoke surrounded the creature, causing it to make horrific gagging noises. She flew off to attack it from the air.

Beast Boy got excited. "'Thief's Shroud'!" Suddenly he was gone in a puff of smoke. They could hear him running off, away from them.

Robin started to get uneasy. "Guys –"

Cyborg was next. "I use: 'Berserker's Pep-Talk'!" Suddenly, his stats rose exponentially, though his health remained the same. His giant axe glowed red and so did both of his eyes. "GHAA!" He sprang into action, attacking the monster head-on. His axe sank deep into its tail that had briefly surfaced the water. It shrieked, oozing goo from the wound and the tail sank down once more. A well-placed star bolt threw the creature off balance, sending it tumbling into the river.

Beast Boy was gone, probably trying to set up a trap card somewhere. Robin was rooted to the spot, torn.

 _Raven's our hero, she's the one who is supposed to call the shots._ He thought to himself. _What if we're messing everything up… how do we know what she's planning?_

Suddenly, strangely, his bag started beeping. It was like the noise a homing device makes when it goes off. He reached inside and pulled out the mirror, which was flashing violet. "Raven?"

"Come at me dude!" Came the battle cry of Beast Boy who threw an assassin trap card called 'boiling lake'. A horrible smell permeated the air when Leviathan started to cook in the river. It screamed a mighty cry, thrashing and now spitting black goo everywhere. Robin hopped backward to get out of range.

"Raven!" He demanded of the mirror. Followed by a slight static-noise, Raven's face appeared blurry in the mirror.

"Robin!" She called out to him.

He smiled in relief, she was alive. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Are you?"

He nodded. "Except for Leviathan, we're doing okay."

She frantically replied, "I know, you're - it wrong! - wasting cards!"

He frowned, confused. "What?"

Raven's voice crackled with more static. "The ooze-clea-so you can-ss the river!"

He was lost, frustrated and distracted by the screeching of the sea serpent and his team. "The ooze? From his eyes?"

The mirror went dark.

"No!" He growled. He almost threw the mirror, but instead stowed it back in his pack. He pushed his cape out of the way to get another look at his cards. _The ooze…clean it? Cross the river?_

He pulled one that he thought might work. He reached the river bank and threw his weapons and bag on the edge, clutching the one card in his hand. "Titans! Fall BACK! Beast Boy! Undo the trap card!" He commanded of his team. He couldn't know if Beast Boy had heard him, but he saw Cyborg and Star retreat upon his words. He plunged into the river, praying that the boiling water spell was undone. It was. He swam down far, pressing the card 'drought' to the sand. Suddenly his body was sucked downward, nearly suffocating him while the water disappeared into the card in a tidal rush. It felt like forever, but when the river had drained, the trap card magically turned into a new one that read: 'flood'. He gasped where he was, panting on the sands. A trickle of water was headed toward him, no doubt from the mountain above. It would slowly try to become a new river again. He had to hurry, and not let the water touch Leviathan. He coughed out something slimy and looked back up at the creature.

"Ew," Beast Boy gagged, appearing once again in a cloud of smoke on the bridge above Robin. Leviathan had shriveled up in the dirt. The ooze from his eyes was nothing but dust now without the water to help it form. The creature had died, boiled, dried, bloated and smelly.

A popping noise came from the sky.

"Fireworks?" Cyborg asked as he hauled Robin from the river bed. He helped him to the bank and they all read in the sky: "Boss Defeated" written in fireworks.

Starfire clapped happily. "Glorious!" She smiled. "Perhaps this game is not as difficult as we first imagined?"

Robin smiled at her positivity, wishing he could hug her and say that she was right, but he couldn't. Instead she floated down to him and helped him stand. He was a little winded from nearly drowning. He held up 'flood' and they all nodded in appreciation for his quick thinking.

"Raven told me what to do."

Beast Boy's ears perked up. "Raven? You spoke to Raven? When!?"

Robin was starting to become less shocked over Beast Boy's outbursts on Raven's behalf, but he still had to raise a hand to quiet his friend. "I just talked to her through the mirror, but it was choppy and static-y. She's far away and has a low signal, but she's alright."

Beast Boy let out a long-held breath. "Is she…with him?"

Robin recalled seeing a dark figure lurking behind Raven… watching them. "I think so."

The green Titan bristled just thinking about it. They all agreed to haul the massive creature from the river bed and let it rot on land so Robin could return the water to the river. The small amount already trickling from whatever mountain source the river originated from looked like it needed a little help. Robin thought that letting the water return would probably be the best idea in the long run.

"What if you need it later?" Cyborg had asked. "Think of how great it would be if we just drowned Malchior where he stood."

Robin frowned. "Do you really want to leave it like this?"

"It's all an illusion anyway." Cyborg grumbled, however, even he had to admit that the smell of dying fish and seaweed was pretty gnarly. Once Leviathan was safely removed where he could not regain power, Robin threw the 'flood' card onto the sands without another word. Suddenly it exploded in a torrential downpour, and in no time the river was back to the way it was, sans sea serpent.

"See? Much better." Robin announced. Out of nowhere a small tinkling noise, like the sound of bells, came from the bridge. A large treasure chest, which had not been there before, sat awaiting them.

Beast Boy grinned from ear to ear. "I bet those are some power-ups!" He wrenched it open and an inked parchment floated out of it in a gold glow. It read: 'Side-Quest completed! "Friend to Nature". Reward: stat-boost, heal, map!'

Robin grinned at Cyborg who laughed. "Okay, okay."

Starfire frowned. "Heal?" she pulled out her journal and her eyes went wide. "Friends…" She shakily whispered.

They looked down at their own journals and went quiet. Their health bars were all in the red; dangerously low.

"B-but… I barely got knocked around by that thing… I've only got 22 health left!" Beast Boy was shocked.

Starfire shook her head. "Things are not as they seem, and we do not _seem_ to be prepared for it."

On the bright side they were all at level three now, but their stats were still pathetic compared to the recorded stats of the first boss.

"Dudes," Beast Boy exclaimed. "The first boss is ALWAYS the easiest. It's just to help you better understand the game… not to actually kill you." He shivered. "This…isn't going to be easy, is it?"

Robin shrugged. "The level-cap is ten, so the game won't be…forever?"

"If we live that long." Cyborg objected.

Starfire shook her head. "We must remain vigilant to our new statistics and maintain a system of strategy. Robin, can you contact Raven again?"

Robin didn't know. He pulled out the mirror calling: "Raven?"


	5. Getting Colder

**I want to 100% apologize for the late post! I am so sorry! School started up again this week and I've been swamped. I know this chapter isn't long enough to make up for it, but I promise that I'll be updating this Sunday! Thanks to everyone viewing and favoriting!**

 **Let me know any critiques, questions or suggestions in the comments, as always!**

* * *

She dragged her thumb over a smudged part of the mirror and sighed. It was clear and clean again, but there was no one on the other side.

"Congratulations, Raven." Malchior poured her some tea. "Your pawns have defeated my rook, it seems. Though, you my queen, are going to be far more difficult to capture." He smiled.

She felt like throwing up. "My _friends_. Not pawns. They're real people with real thoughts and feelings. They're not some magical creature you pull out of a deck and throw to the wolves."

He looked sarcastically confused. "They're not?"

"No!" She hissed. "How can you be so cruel? How can you be so insane?"

She had barely contacted them in time. Their stats were dropping by the second. Every blow, every shot and they were down. Close to the edge. She fretted on the plush sofa, begging the mirror to reveal her friends to her. Just to get a glimpse of them, Cyborg, Star, Robin…Beast Boy. She desperately wanted to make sure they were safe or to hear the words that they were saying. The little figures on the board moved slowly, like a blur, so she knew that they were living and talking, but she wasn't part of it. She couldn't hear them or understand their movements. She needed to be with her friends. She wished so badly that Robin were the hero again, calling all the shots.

How he lived each day being responsible for all of their lives, she'd never know.

Meanwhile he'd sat there, smirking the whole time, watching her panic over a static-y mirror conversation. She'd been trying to save their lives and he'd had another cup of tea.

"Solitary confinement can drive any mind toward the brink of insanity." His words snapped Raven back to attention. He tapped her knee that was covered by the white blanket. "I'm not alone this time, though. Maybe you can bring me back?"

"Maybe you're too far gone."

He frowned. "Why do you make things so difficult?" He raised the teacup to his lips again. "Honestly, Raven. We can never just have a nice conversation anymore."

She gaped at him in disbelief. "Do you think I'm playing with you?"

"Well you _are_ 'playing' the game." He smirked.

"I am NOT exchanging witty banter with you. I am NOT attempting to flay you with words or kill you with looks!" She dug her nails into her palms. "I am _trying_ to keep my friends, no, my FAMILY alive for as long as it takes before they can get here and rip you apart, and release me from this damn spell." She wished desperately for her second pair of eyes to appear, but they hadn't since Trigon was destroyed. She had never liked them, but at least they were intimidating.

Raven took her teacup and threw it as best she could into the fire. It crashed and splintered, the tea sizzling the logs. "I am not thanking you for whisking me away from reality. Not this time. I'm not your damsel, I'm not your QUEEN. I'm 'Raven'. A person you have _never_ tried to get to know, and a person who you have never even considered to have a consciousness other than the one that could release you from your book and satisfy your magical needs." She leaned back into the couch and crossed her arms. "Stop pretending like we have some sort of grand past. If anything, you are a blip in my memories that I rarely reflect upon."

To add insult to (what she hoped was) injury, she turned her face away from his gaze and refused to respect him with eye contact.

Malchior, finally, had no words. He stood quietly from his chair and disappeared from the room. She hadn't noticed the door behind her before, but made a serious mental note. She tugged at the blanket that was confining her legs and attempted a custom-spell that she'd been rolling over and over in her mind for an hour. The blanket gave a little, and she nearly teared-up in relief. It was working. All she needed to do was get it off of her and she might have a chance. There was nothing she could do strapped to this ugly couch.

While he was gone she spent time whispering a few more incantations. She pulled and tugged and stretched her legs as far as she could. It was hard, but it was working. Suddenly, the door creaked behind her and she stopped, looking cool and unimpressed. She turned her head to see him reappear with a new teacup in his hands. He didn't seem angry or upset in any way. This disappointed her.

"Here, love." He set the rose-colored cup in her violet-tinged saucer, whose mate was still burning, and re-filled it. "Try not to break this one, it's a favorite."

When she reached down to throw this next one in the fire (in hopes of getting him to leave again), he grasped her wrist tightly; painfully. "Gently, dear." He hissed, his fangs showing in the firelight. "I know you're trying your best, but in the end you don't _really_ want me to be angry with you."

She gulped a little. His eyes were like sharp glass. She could cut herself on him. "I don't?"

He shook his head slowly and gripped her harder, his nails biting into her skin again. She fought to keep her face straight, but it became too much and she winced, then whimpered, and finally pleaded: "S-stop!"

His eyes narrowed and he squeezed a little more before finally releasing her. "There." He finished.

Raven didn't like being taught lessons by beings she found inferior to her, but in this moment she allowed herself to shut up and just keep going. Her friends were her greatest hope right now, and she needed to do everything she could to get them to victory.

A grandfather clock, somewhere in the room, ticked the seconds by slowly. It was awkward, and frightening to know that each second with him could be her, or her Team's last, but she persevered. They were already at level 3, and she had great faith in them. They were the Teen Titans. They were an epitome of teamwork, greatness, selflessness. Heroes. Today, and for the next few 'days' to come, they would be her heroes.

…

Beast Boy was tired. They'd left the bridge behind and continued their way toward the creepy, purple castle in the distance. Without any answer from Raven in the mirror, they'd decided the best plan was the old plan. Keep going, find her, beat the crap out of her captor, then wake up and forget that any of this had ever happened.

He grumbled at the boots on his feet, missing his own ones he'd left back in the treasure chest. At this point he was half tempted to go barefoot. At least then he'd feel a little more at home. Though, he had to admit, the dragon-scale leather he was sporting did look pretty damn bad ass. He stretched his arms over his head and his shoulders popped. He gnawed upon his lower lip, thinking. _We should have been there a long time ago, and who knows what we'll run into on the way there…_

This whole game was already wearing thin, but based on Cyborg's calculations of distance, they still had such a long way to go.

Now that the game had officially started, Cyborg's scanners were finally measuring some progress on their part. They weren't able to continue forward before because the "magic" of this place was preventing them from beginning the game prematurely. Beast Boy had commented that he'd never been premature in his life, and then Cyborg had smacked him.

Still, just because they were finally making progress didn't mean that Beast Boy wasn't exhausted over their snail's pace. He'd taken the T-car and Robin's motorcycle for granted. They had been far more efficient with that kind of machinery. He recalled all the times that he had effortlessly bounded after them as a cheetah or flew alongside them as a hawk. Now they had to slug along with a more human stride, when all Beast Boy wanted to do was be inhuman, and tear Malchior to shreds.

 _Some guys just don't know when to quit_. Beast Boy's nostrils flared a little and he tried not to hiss in frustration. _How can he do this to her again? Talk about 'real' evil_. Grappling with the situation had been easy when they were fighting off monsters and running for their lives in some less-than-cuddly enchanted forest, but now they were heading to what he assumed was the next checkpoint in the game. There was nothing here to occupy his thoughts until then. After all, no one wanted to play _I-Spy_ with him.

"Guys, come'on. I'm bored out of my mind and I swear, if we don't do something soon-"

"Look out!" Robin shouted, ever vigilant. A spear flew past Beast Boy's head, just barely shifting a few hairs on his head. He froze for a second in shock, but jumped back to attention.

"What was that!?" He morphed quickly into a tiger and felt his stamina lessen. He remembered his stats book and felt his fur stand on end. _I won't be owned by Malchior's stupid game_.

He roared at the approaching army of orc-like goblins protruding from all sides of the forest. The first wave reached him and Robin, while Cyborg hurled a sonic blast behind them and went to flank the hoard. They were outnumbered three to one, but of course that didn't stop them from trying. From above, Starfire's battle cry could be heard before two goblins burst into green flame.

She threw a card from her deck, it bounced off of Robin's head and he caught it. It read '1+Up', with a description of increasing a level and stats for whatever hero uses it.

Robin looked up, confused. "Starfire, you're supposed to use this on yourself!"

"No, you use it!" She called back, flying off to set another part of the hoard on fire. She dodged arrows coming her way and starbolts flew from her eyes toward the archers.

He was confused by her gift, but his heart warmed. He couldn't think about it for long, though, and activated it quickly between swipes of his sword. Beast Boy fought ferociously beside him, and when Robin suddenly burst into white light he was a little startled. Goblins stepped back a little and covered their eyes, allowing Cyborg and Beast Boy to take a few good shots at them. Finally, Robin returned to normal, and a '1+UP' sign showed above his head for the remainder of the fight. He applied his stat boost toward his energy in the battle, and they quickly defeated the hoard after that.

When Starfire gently floated down to the ground beside them, she smiled happily at her boyfriend who sheepishly smiled back. He asked, "Why did you give me that item? That's a rare item."

She nodded but said, "I know that you will put it to the best use."

Robin blushed a little and she kissed his cheek, making him blush harder.

"Alright, alright love birds." Cyborg cut in. "We're up another level, well Robin's up two levels, but we're still only at level 4."

"Five." Robin smirked. "Halfway there."

Cyborg huffed. "Yeah, yeah good for you. Just remember, we're only _halfway there_."

Beast Boy saw what he was getting at and groaned. "Goodie."

"Look out!" Starfire called, pointing above their heads.

Beast Boy reacted a little late and got clipped in the head by a low-flying dragon. He tripped and skidded on the ground, but collected himself quickly.

"Hey!" He yelled up at the familiar sight. "You pathetic excuse for a reptile!" Beast Boy shifted into a T-Rex and challenged the monster with his own gargantuan roar.

The dragon touched down with a loud thud and hissed. It shifted, too. It shifted into a form that was both alien to them, and all too familiar.

"Greetings, pawns." It spoke.

Starfire wanted to gag at the sight. This man before them was broken and twisted, his skin was punctured by black scales. His teeth had ripped apart the mouth that it spoke from. His nails curled into hooks more deadly than she'd ever seen in a human.

"You are a rotting sight to look upon." She stated, calmly.

If Malchior had feathers instead of scales, they would have been ruffled. "You're no Da Vinci either, dear."

Starfire didn't understand the reference, but Robin did. "Hey!" he snapped. "What are you doing here? This isn't part of the game."

"I just came to give my…congratulations on defeating my Leviathan. I see you all need those health packs you earned, though. Not very careful, are we?"

"No." Cyborg growled. "No. We're downright dangerous." He adjusted the axe in his hand. "How about we end the game right now, and take out player 2?"

Malchior rolled his eyes. "Relax, Tank." He waved away the animosity in the air, his claws glinted in the sunlight. "I just thought you'd all like to know, that every moment you struggle with goblin hoards and river worms, your poor Raven loses time."

Beast Boy returned to his regular form. "Losing time? What do you mean?" He stalked up toward the dragon-man, but felt a barrier stop him. He halted about 6 feet from Malchior and growled.

"I've done nothing. You're the ones crawling your way over the map like pathetic slugs." He pulled out something from his pocket and tossed it to Robin. Beast Boy, rather apologetically, intercepted it mid-flight and snapped it up.

"What is this?" He challenged, not taking his eyes from the monster before him.

Malchior rolled his own 'borrowed' green eyes at the changeling. "If you looked at it you would know, fool."

Beast Boy dared for a moment to peer down at it for only a fraction of a second, snapping his eyes back up, like an animal on the hunt. "An hourglass."

"Mhm."

Robin tapped Beast Boy's shoulder. "Let me look at that." He took it from his friend gently and turned it in his hands. The sand, purple in color, was falling slowly into the open basin beneath it. He turned it upside down, and was surprised to find that the sand was still flowing into the same basin, regardless of gravity's pull upon it. In other words, it was going to fill the empty basin no matter which way you tilted it. Up, down, sideways? Time would still flow the way it wanted.

"What happens," Robin frowned. "When the sand runs out, Malchior?"

The dragon, unnerved by the use of his name by someone other than Raven, pretended to be interested in something behind Robin. "I don't know, to be quite honest. Perhaps you shouldn't allow yourselves to find out." He then pulled a small watch from his coat and scratched the face with his claws. The sharp sound made Beast Boy shy away internally. "Tick-tock, Titans." He mused, absently. In an instant he was a dragon again, taking off into the blue sky.

Beast Boy watched the black mass fade into the direction of the castle and bristled. "He's insane."

"He's not getting away with it." Robin stowed the hourglass away in his pack and shouldered it. "Let's go, team."

…

"Gah!" Raven hissed at the cut on her face. He'd hit her. She had it coming, she nearly escaped, but it still hurt like Hell.

The blanket was discarded behind her, its charms undone by about thirty of her own design. Her sweatpants hugged her waist with their little white drawstring, but she shivered in them anyway. Her crewneck was huge on her but she'd neglected to wear something warm underneath, instead opting for a tank top. She shivered, her body was developing a fever with her cold, and evolving into what she thought was the flu. She felt sick.

"Sweet, stupid Raven." He cooed quietly, his claw cutting into her cheek as he 'gently' caressed it. "My beautiful Queen has dismantled my beautiful charms." He glanced behind her at the discarded cloth, both irritated and impressed.

"I did my best." She whimpered in front of him. Her skin was sore and prickling, the way you feel when your whole body aches. This was the worst illness she'd thought she'd ever experienced. It made sense when she was severely dehydrated, hadn't eaten anything for a while. Her mind may be playing tricks on her in this fantasy world, but her body on the cold tower floor didn't lie.

He felt her shiver beneath his palms and he smiled. "I know what would warm you up." He leaned in close to her.

"Forget it." She snapped, stepping back quickly. "I told you not to come near me again, or I swear…" She felt dizzy from the slap, ache-y from her sickness and her knees started to buckle. She hated that he snapped her up so quickly, bridal style he carried her back to the couch where he promptly shackled her ankles to the couch.

"How medieval." He _tsked_ at her new situation. "You are supposed to be a queen, my dear. Not some lowly, broken doll upon red plush." His claws gently ran through her short hair. He could feel the goosebumps on her skin, and the heat she was giving off from a fever. "It had never been my intention to harm you, darling. Though now, I fear, you might not make it to the final round. You won't die from this flu, of course. Provided that you're crumpled body can get some water in it before the fever burns you out."

"How long are we going to be here again?"

He actually laughed out loud, bellowing almost. "Oh, with the pace your great 'army' is moving at? I'd say an eternity."


	6. Breaking Things

**A/N: Hey Guys! This one was ON TIME? What? I'm REALLY proud of this chapter. It has a whimsical aspect to it that I think I've been struggling with throughout this fic. The Titans are usually more hilarious than I make them out to be, so this is my attempt at some humor. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Starfire had decided to walk alongside her friends for a few miles. It didn't seem healthy (even if it was her own power) to waste unnecessary mana points. Besides, she missed the conversation, and even though they were eternally grateful for the aerial view on her behalf, they missed her, too.

"Did you see when I blasted ten of em' in a row?" Cyborg asked her, wondering if she'd gotten a good view of the fight.

She nodded. "Oh yes, I especially saw when one of their helmets went flying. Their faces are quite gruesome." She shivered to think about it. "I wonder what must have happened to them? Or are they a strange alien from another planet? I have never heard of 'Orc' or 'Goblin' infested planets before. Although, I assure you that if I did, they would have been wiped out a very long time ago. Their primitive weaponry and weak constitution would have fallen to the Mithronians of Maldustia centuries ago. That's what happened to the slug people of Beta 462." She chatted on.

Robin smiled and nonchalantly took her hand for a moment as they walked. She gently grasped his back, careful not to break his littlest finger like the last time she squeezed it in joy. It did not take long to heal thanks to Raven's powers, but caused him more pain than she'd ever thought she could inflict upon her love.

"I think there's something up ahead." Beast Boy commented, cutting through the war talk and the lovey-dovey hand holding. "It looks like a sign?"

In fact, it was a marker upon a dark mound of dirt. The mound was very small, and upon further inspection was actually a makeshift flower pot for a dangerous, thorny looking plant that wove its way around the marker. It bloomed black roses and, with its red thorns, gave the impression that it was not to be touched. In the clearing where the marker stood, there was no sound. All of their skin prickled. The marker was illegible, probably in some ancient tongue and written in runes.

"This feels...funky." Cyborg commented, shifting the axe on his shoulder. Robin unsheathed his broadsword.

"You're right. We should stay defensive and look for clues. This could be a quest. I don't want to fail because we missed anything or got caught out by the enemy."

They nodded and, following their leader's command, split up into a four way search. From the marker they each decided they would scan the woods from a diagonal perspective, going to all four corners of the clearing. That way, they could cover some equal ground.

While they walked, Beast Boy called behind him, "Doesn't this remind you guys of the Fantastic Four?"

"It would," Robin commented. "If we weren't the Fantastic Five."

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, a little sheepishly. "But, you know. Just for now, I mean-"

Starfire screamed.

Everyone turned at once, as if they were frozen in space while Starfire's scream echoed off of the trees. While her scream had scared them out of their wits, that wasn't the worst part. Starfire was gone.

"Starfire!" Robin yelled after her. "She was right here, where did she go!" His voice took on the protective tone that it usually did, and both Cyborg and Beast Boy's hearts were pounding horribly in response.

Where, indeed had Starfire gone?

They, in a panic, scanned the skies, the treeline. Where was she? Where had she just _dissappeared_ off to?

Suddenly, Cyborg stopped moving, he was staring down intently at his feet in horror.

"What? What!?" Robin asked him, demanding he share any information. Beast Boy rushed over to see what the fuss was about.

Instead of answering, Cyborg took both of their heads in his massive hands and forced them to look down at his feet. In unison, the three of them exclaimed: "WHAT?"

Starfire was below them. As if they were standing upon a glass floor, she stood about ten feet below them like she were in an aquarium, waving up at them from below. It was clear she was shouting something, but they couldn't hear her.

Robin lay down on his stomach and pressed his face to the ground. Now that he thought about it, it had always been glass, but it had looked like regular earth beneath them from the transparency. He tried shouting something to her, things like "are you okay" or "how the hell did you get down there" but of course, she couldn't hear him either.

"We have to figure out how she got down there and get her back." He said, resolutely standing back up. "Go toward her corner of the clearing and try to fall in."

"Fall IN?" Beast Boy questioned.

Robin nodded. "We'll try to find the opening and go from there."

"Okay…" Beast Boy agreed, running off in the direction toward where Starfire had fallen.

Beneath them, she ran in sync with their pursuit, trying her hardest to remember where exactly she fell through.

After her initial shock of falling, especially since she was trying not to waste mana on flying, she had allowed herself to gently float to a stop before hitting the ground. The place she was in was EXACTLY like the clearing she had been in, except above her it was as if her friends were all flying. A rare sight, and kind of ironic (if Starfire had had any concept of irony). There were still forests on either side of her, and another sign in the middle. The runes, this time she noticed, were upside down. When she'd realized what had happened she immediately ran toward her friends, only to find that no matter how hard she yelled, they wouldn't look down. Not until Cyborg had.

Now, as she ran with them toward where she fell, she could finally hear them. Their shouts were getting louder, as if unmuting a video and turning the sound up slowly. She was just thinking that maybe she'd fallen through an actual hole in the glass ceiling, and they were getting very close to it, when Robin faltered and fell, coming right at her. She caught him mid-fall and kissed him joyously.

"Robin!" She cheered. He blinked and then smiled.

"Hey, Starfire."

From above they heard Beast Boy shout, "Dudes! Run! Er...fly!" and also noticed him pointing behind them. From the trees, here in the 'lower' half of the clearing, dark mist was forming. Like black tendrils of smoke, something wicked their way came. It fizzled and smoked, hissing at them like a cloud of angry snakes, and yet no specific form was visible. However, from the mist glowed a thousand yellow eyes.

"Eeep!" Starfire blasted at it with her starbolt vision, but it did nothing except separate the mist in half. After that didn't work, she held onto Robin and flew straight up where he fell. When they got very close to Beast Boy and Cyborg's feet, they unfortunately slammed face first into the ceiling.

Robin rubbed his head in confusion."What?" His hands felt the ceiling above them, yet there was no longer a hole. "Is this the right place?"

"Yeah dude!" Beast Boy stuck his arm down and grabbed Robin's wrist. "It's right here, now stop messing around and come on." He attempted to pull them out himself, as if it were some sophisticated portal, but it turned out that the glass spell was smarter than that.

Instead of pulling them out, Beast Boy's arm was stuck. It was odd for him to feel trapped and yet see nothing holding onto him. He blinked and yipped. "What do I do?"  
Cyborg, scratching his head nervously as the slow, dark cloud came closer and closer. "I think it's a one way ticket."

Beast Boy, now really unhappy about "trying" to fall into the glass trap, looked up at Cyborg in fear. "Don't you dare."

"Sorry, bro." Cyborg kicked the poor green Titan and he tumbled head over heels into the trap. "Cannonball!" Cyborg shouted, and he too allowed himself to fall.

Robin, now realizing that the only thing left to do was fight, had Starfire set him down and he unsheathed his sword. _Although, I don't know how much good it'll do._

Beast Boy landed gracefully on the ground as a cheetah, ignoring the forced push and readied for battle, too.

Cyborg patted the cheetah's head and laughed. "If we do this, we do it together." Beast Boy responded with a slap of his tail, which honestly Cyborg found to be fluffy and didn't mind.

"How do we defeat what is not there?" Starfire asked. When one of the pairs of eyes flew straight for Cyborg, and he swept his axe right through it, it kept going, it's two halves were circling overhead like erratic bats. "I think I just made more." He commented.

Robin wondered why it had only sent out one scout, the mass was hovering just before them.

Silent.

Watchful.

It gave him the creeps.

"Wait…" Beast Boy reached into his pack. "What about...this!" With flourish, like a Yu-Gi-Oh dueling master, he summoned 'Revealing Light', a card which was supposed to illuminate foes that were hidden on the battlefield.

The cloud hissed again, fizzling and finally (and rather alarmingly) it split apart into a thousand small, dark wraiths. Each one screaming loudly and so high pitched that the team thought their ears were going to start bleeding.

" _What did you do that for?_ " Cyborg loudly chided his small, green friend. Beast Boy sheepishly shrugged.

" _I thought it would work!_ " He shouted over the noise.

Robin, although wishing that Beast Boy would have consulted them a little bit first, thought that maybe his friend had the right idea. Well, not THAT idea, but he was headed in the right direction. Clearly this monster couldn't be defeated with weapons, and therefore their only resource was cards. Now, other than the creature, the only thing else in this clearing was-

" _The sign_!" He shouted, the creatures getting louder and louder with every second. " _Get to the middle!"_

Only half-hearing him, they followed his lead anyway toward the middle of the clearing. Starfire shot a few more of the little devils with her Starbolts out of principle. Now that they had all multiplied as much as possible, she was making a little progress at cutting them down or burning them away, but there were (what seemed like) millions! She'd never win, not before their screams drove them all to madness.

After reconvening at the middle of the clearing, they had to resort to putting their hands over their ears. Beast Boy, the most sensitive to sound, looked like his eyes were about to start tearing up. " _Whatever you're going to do? HURRY!"_

Robin plunged his hand into his knapsack, rummaging for the deck of cards. Finally he had them, but unlike his friends he couldn't save his ears in the process. As he combed through the deck for the one he wanted, his hearing went out.

It was a shocking moment, to say the very least. No ringing, no popping noise. Just nothing. At first he thought the monsters had stopped on their own and had snapped his eyes up from the deck. He was almost relieved when he realized that his friends were still covering their ears. His heart thud rapidly in his chest.

Gone? His hearing was just...gone?

His knees shook, and for the first time in a long time, he was genuinely afraid. He almost cried out, needing to tell his friends what had happened, but he decided that helping his team was more important right now. With a lump in his throat, and heartbreaking thoughts about the word 'deaf', he told himself he'd deal with it later.

Finally, he found it. 'Hermit's Dictionary'. It was a translation card, one that he'd used in previous games to get Raven to reveal her complicated spell cards. In this case, he used it on the sign, the one wrapped in black rose vines. The runes shifted, slowly revealing that they were NOT runes. Instead, they were lines. Each line moved, repositioning, reshaping and bending itself until it spelled out:

Reading is All You'll Ever Do

Once we Get inside Your Head

You'll hate our song, we don't Sing well

You'll Wish that you were Dead

Roses are Quite Beautiful

They are my Raven Song

She's just out of reach, Poor Fools

Your Defeat will not be long

If you're smart enough to break,

Our Little hidden Room

You need to think, Dear Fools

The Key is in the Bloom

Ignoring the jabs at their intelligence, Robin frantically went to the rose that grew delicately out of the vine on the marker. It was beautiful. Black, but when the light hit it, it was a dark plum color. _Malchior is really going for those Raven references._ He thought bitterly. He gently took the flower, attempting to see what kind of key the poem was talking about. He turned it this way and that, but there was nothing. In frustration, and fury, he ripped the flower from its vine.

Beast Boy shouted something at him, but he couldn't hear it. Instead he saw Beast Boy grab the vine.

Meaning he took his hands from his ears. Robin saw the moment where Beast Boy's hearing went out, because his head snapped around, and fell on Robin's face. Beast Boy opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head and took the vine in both hands now.

He pulled hard, and unwove it from the sign. It was buried deeply in the ground, and his hands started to bleed, but now that he knew what was at stake, for both Cyborg and Starfire... losing their hearing? He kept pulling.

Finally, he broke it free, and the four of them could see that it was in fact a weapon. At the end of the vine was the sharpest, blackest stone. It formed in a diamond at the end with wicked hooks littered all over it.

Beast Boy turned from his friends and, with an animal scream he could no longer hear for himself, swung the weapon in a huge circle at all the screaming wraiths. When they were hit with this particular weapon, they fell like black water to the earth. Raining upon them, the mist turned solid and each wraith, in no time, was nothing but black droplets on the grass and sand.

Beast Boy panted and dropped the vicious vine. His hands hurt like Hell, red blood adding to the black painting, but he had done it. Starfire and Cyborg would be fine. Even if he and Robin weren't.

"Nice going, BB." Cyborg said beside him, patting his shoulder. "How did you know you could do that?"

Beast Boy's head snapped up, and so did Robin's. They both gave each other a look, breaking out into the widest smiles. _They could hear again_!

Beast Boy cheered. "Whoo! YEAH!"

"What?" Cyborg asked. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, dude." Beast Boy laughed, coming down from his euphoria. No need to worry the other two with what had almost happened to them.

Robin came up next to him and nodded his approval. "How _did_ you figure that out? The message said that the rose was the key."

Beast Boy pointed at the message. "Well, first of all Malchior hates us. Duh. Of course he'd try to mess with us. He writes that the rose is Raven, and he never wants us to get her back. Obviously, the rose was a lie at the end. Also, he writes we need to "think", and calls us fools. Dick." He pointed at the vine now. "So I _thought_ about it, and if it wasn't the rose, it had to be the vine."

Robin crossed his arms and smiled with approval while Starfire hugged Beast Boy and cracked his back. Cyborg laughed. "Nice, little dude."

"Now…" Robin cut back into the conversation. "How do we get out of here?"

"You think it's opened up now?"

Starfire pointed at the sign. It was crumbling, like sand it started to fall and disappear. Above them the glass ceiling made a cracking sound.

"Oh Shi-" The shattering of glass drowned out Cyborg's comment and they all shielded their heads with their arms.

When it was over, Robin narrowed his eyes at his teammate. "Language."

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone who's been following and commenting! You keep me going!**


	7. Tea Room

**A/N: I know this was late again! I'm sorry, but I hope you're excited for this chapter, because I was! Thanks everyone following, favoriting and reviewing! It means the world to me! Let me know what you think!**

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Raven had watched her friends' progress through the riddle with mild hysteria. She had tapped her knee with a single pointer finger, simultaneously bouncing her leg in frustration. Occasionally she'd yell at the game board as if it were a football game on TV.

"Oh, stop love. You know it's useless." He'd said to her.

It burned her up.

They still couldn't hear her or receive messages through mirror. Were they handling themselves? Of course, but she still felt so helpless. Someone on the sidelines who couldn't do anything, not even cheer them on. A long time ago, the boys had been trapped in puppet bodies. They were completely immobile, only able to mumble one or two words. She felt trapped in a puppet body right now. The white grimoire blanket wrapped around her legs made her itchy. Both literally and figuratively. She just wanted to stand up. She just wanted to DO something.

Contrary to her frustrations, Malchior had been watching the event like a spectator. If he had popcorn he'd have been munching it like a hungry lion, reveling in his cleverness and devouring his spoils of war. It wasn't until halfway through the fight, when Beast Boy had (in the nick of time) discovered the answer to his 'riddle' and the key to his trap, did their positions switch. Raven finally calmed down, almost "whoo"-ing their triumph. Her respect for Beast Boy's cleverness soared, and her heart thumped both in excitement and relief. Malchior, on the other hand, had gripped his teacup tightly and huffed.

"Don't be so hissy." She half-joked. "That was clever of him, you have to admit."

He refused to agree, instead leaving the room again to "get more tea".

She jumped at the opportunity to work more charms and spells on the blanket. His absence was a blessing, and as she tugged and tore at the spells with her magic and with her hands, she nearly had it free. Her ankles popped when she rotated them, and her knees cracked when she stretched them out to their full length. She wanted to sing.

 _Finally_ , she thought _. Progress._

Her triumph was short lived, because he'd returned with a full pot in hand.

"You know, with all this tea I'll eventually need a bathroom break." She fished. He shook his head and smiled.

"Clever, but no. This tea is as real as this game. You won't need a break." He poured her another cup.

"My friends are under the impression that they'll die if their health reaches zero." She commented.

He sipped some earl grey. "That's the idea, love."

"You made me think that, too." She clenched her hands into fists.  
"That was also the idea." He patted her fist and chuckled. "You fall so easily, don't you?"

She wanted to hit him so badly. "So what _does_ happen if they reach zero?" She asked.

He grinned. "Why, they wake up and are released from this illusion. Though, that does pose a problem with your winning the game if they do." He sipped his tea. "Of course, that won't happen. Who would ever die for _you_ , my creepy little ghoul?"

While no one ever _wants_ someone to die for them, the way he said it made Raven's heart ache. _That...was harsh._

She didn't have the strength to fight back. She merely shrugged.

This caused him to frown a bit, and he reached over and took her hand gently. "I might die for you."

"Oh, _shut up_." She bit.

He laughed at her. "What? You don't think I, the great Dread Dragon Malchior, wouldn't lay down my life for a little damsel like yourself. The one who imprisoned me in a book and left me to rot in a dusty chest?"

She huffed. "You escaped."

"True." He agreed, releasing her hand. "I did."

There was a royally awkward pause between them before Raven finally asked the question that had been burning her alive since she'd seen him again. Since she'd fought him again against the brotherhood of evil.

"How?"

He paused. His eyes for once losing their sharpness and going cloudy. They looked somewhere behind her, lost in thought.

"You, my sweet." He whispered.

Her heart clenched. _I caused this? I started this for us again?_ She'd often thought, that day when she'd sealed him away again, that maybe she'd done it wrong. That maybe, just maybe, she'd said something wrong or worked the spell badly, and that it would be her fault if he ever hurt her or one of her friends again. Now he was saying out loud her worst, inner fears.

"Me?"

He nodded. "The Great Wizard Rorek was a powerful sorcerer. Over a thousand years ago he was from a long line of noble, and determined Magi that dedicated their lives to 'helping the realm'. Nol was a hideous place, filled with misery and poverty. Death around every corner. I admit to contributing to some of the strife, of course. They were determined to wipe out the 'bad blood' tormenting their world. Self-righteous bastards." He cracked his shoulder nonchalantly and continued. "I took it upon myself to bring them down a peg. Ruin the little land they loved so much. I underestimated his power."

"I know." She commented. "You got yourself sucked into a book, buried in a tomb somewhere in ancient Europe when eventually you came to my shelf." She finally sipped some tea, mostly because her throat was killing her. "I loved rooting for the wizard, by the way."

He looked her up and down. "You loved more than his power, darling. Those eyes, am I right?" He laughed at her expense.

"Yes, I was sucked into a book. I was bound by a power more ancient, more deep... more extraordinary than yours. With such knowledge lost to history, I'll never see the like again. I'm afraid to say I'm a little bored with the modern age. Less of a challenge." He set the teacup in the saucer and went to throw a log on the fire, though Raven suspected it was just out of habit. The fire was run by magic. And also an illusion.

"I tried teaching you. I wanted to rekindle the old days, and also get myself out of that hideous book. You, though, had to go all 'noble' on me."

She interrupted. "This still doesn't explain how you got out the second time. I saw you dimension hop at the Brotherhood of Evil's lair. How did you do it?"

"Again, I tried to teach you, but you were too noble. Furious? Yes. I loved seeing that fire in your expression. I crave seeing it again, though in your current state all I see is glassy sickness in your eyes." He sat down next to her on the couch this time. He didn't look at her, but he leaned back like they were old friends, and she cringed. "Rorek was the greatest sorcerer I have ever faced, and darling, though you are formidable, you just didn't have what it took. You didn't embrace my teachings and it was a magic far before your time. The rules are different. The words weren't enough, there were immediate cracks. I wormed my way out of them and, like ink, spilled over into the next dimension I could find. Eventually I made it back to this world of ours, and I wandered the hills of my first home. There's a Queen in charge of the land now. Did you know that? Imagine…"

She rolled her eyes at his casual tone, but on this inside she was kicking herself for being too weak. How could she be weak when she was slowly making progress on the restraints he'd put on her? Unless that was all an illusion, too. Maybe it wasn't magic she was breaking apart, but the reality around her. Maybe she was slowly waking up the more she got the blanket off of her. Either way, she was nearly halfway there… if she could just get him to leave again.

But instead he leaned over and sniffed her hair, to which she jerked back in surprise and coughed into his face again. He closed his eyes in disgust and frustration before leaning back and wiping his nose.

"Charming, my love."

She bristled. "I _told_ you, several times now, I think, to: Stay. Away. From. Me." She grit her teeth together and leaned as far from him as possible. He gently traced her knee with the back of a gruesome claw.

"Why do you hate me so?" He asked quietly. "You have _so_ _much_ potential, my love. You're the closest thing I've found to my old world. I sat idly by while centuries passed, missing everything. Losing all I knew, until you came along. You, a violet beacon in my dark, dark existence." Her skin prickled and a chill went up her spine. She didn't know how to handle this strange man before her.

"Your childish grudge against my little tricks in the beginning are wearing thin. Sweet Raven, I _needed_ to escape. _Desperately_. Would you have released me, knowing what I was? Accepted me? Of course I had to lie to you. Maybe I was a little tough when you let me out, but I was back in full power. Overzealous. Not myself. Now? I am lost in a modern world of idiots and flashing lights. Nothing is still, nothing is slow. Nothing is familiar to me. Not anymore." His eyes looked into hers, and she almost saw something human in him. Something relatable.

"You are all I have."

"No, Malchior. I'm not. Can't you tell? Don't you know what you did?" She shook her head and tried to forget her teenage heartbreak, instead focusing on what matters. "You tried to kill my friends and myself. You aligned yourself with the Brotherhood, those who would destroy the planet, and now you expect forgiveness? Understanding? I may be creepy, I may be dark and different, but I am a _hero_. I save people, and I take care of the ones I love. You are a threat, a danger. A villain." She spoke with a calm, finality. "You and I are not friends, Malchior. There's nothing for you here. I'm not all you have, because you have _nothing_."

He deflated, for about four seconds. His confidence, like his evil plan, would never quit. "Fine." He sighed. " _Such_ a tantrum. You ask me questions, I answer them, and what do I get? A lecture."

Malchior stopped touching her knee and instead stood up from the sofa. He returned to his chair and examined the board, quietly. Finally he said: "Oh, look. More fun is about to begin."


	8. Fighting Shadows

**A/N: Late again... so sorry! I've been incredibly busy. Both of my sisters have had their birthdays this week and I've got Valentines coming up with Boy, so I'm picking up a lot of extra hours at work for gifts. Other than that, I promise the next chapter is going to be pretty good, though I'm not entirely sure "on time".**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

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"Not your average bed and breakfast," Beast Boy half-heartedly joked. "But it'll be fine, I guess."

He was talking about the large pine tree they were currently camping under. Robin had decided that, though they were definitely in a hurry, his team needed some rest.

"How about through here?" He'd asked, using his sword to cut a path through the trees.

They found a huge pine that was dry and warm underneath, and using their weapons, they gathered some ferns. In their packs were some warm, yet thin blankets and they draped them over the ferns, making some bedding.

"I mean…" Cyborg shrugged. "I'm not sure we can sleep anyway?"

It turned out that the duration of 'night' in game-time was only a few hours, and their journals recorded their energy and health stats. By resting, they would slowly regain stamina, but they weren't sure yet if they could sleep or eat in this world.

"Regardless," Robin continued. "We should get some rest and figure out what to do next."

While Raven and Malchior had been arguing over tea high in a castle tower, the Titans had discussed the events of the game thus far. They talked about their levels (which were at 7 and 8 for Robin now) and how the game had to be close to its finale. Once they reached level 10, they surmised, the game would be over. For that reason, they all agreed that they would rest easy, so to speak. What they didn't know was that there were things lurking in the woods; lurking and salivating over what seemed like an easy meal.

…

"I think your idea of 'fair' is the same as my idea of 'ridiculous'." Malchior commented when she'd called out in protest. "You weren't supposed to weasel your way out of my blanket charms the first time, and yet I allowed you _one_ cheat. The least you could do is condone mine."

She shivered under the blanket he'd re-wrapped around her. She'd kept working at it, pulling and tugging, but his slap across her face the last time was...not pleasant.

Unfortunately, she actually had to admit he'd been playing fairly for the 'villain' role in this game. Yes, her friends had had to deal with monsters, traps, riddles and hoards of orcs. However, everything that happened was something she'd done at least five times when they'd first bought the RPG game. While she shivered, both in sickness and in unease, she closed her mouth and consented to his stupid trick. With one exception of course.

"You're not allowed to kill them." She put frankly.

He scoffed, offended. "With underhanded tricks? Not likely. I want to see their faces when I 'kill' them as you say. Remember, they _do_ return to the real world once they die here."

She'd forgotten about that. "Then what's the point?"

"You are the point. Even if they 'die' and reawaken, you're still mine forever. Whether you like it, or not." He gently ran a claw through her hair, coming up behind her and sniffing it. "Although your little speech earlier was off-putting, instead of keeping you for conversation like I'd wanted," He wound his hand around her throat. "I'll just consume your soul."

…

Beast Boy smelled them before Robin heard them. His ears had perked while they lay around lazily, waiting for the sun to rise. He'd tried to fall asleep, and found that at the very least he could doze, but other than that, he'd been pretty awake.

Before there was any danger, there was just a lot of calm. He couldn't help but think about Raven. Was she trapped in a cold, stone tower somewhere? He worried for her health, too. No one really knew what a human cold would do to her, least of all Raven. Cyborg was the closest thing they had to medical help, but even he wasn't sure how the supernatural-turned-more-human girl would handle it. It wasn't like she'd die, right? When was the last time someone died of a common cold?

He leaned up against the pine tree, startled a little when some sap fell on his head. He itched it out of his hair and sighed. Of all the ways he thought he'd spend the weekend, being trapped inside of an RPG was NOT one of them. He'd wanted to go to the beach, binge-watch movies and maybe pray a little that no one would terrorize the city on a summer weekend.

Instead, he was here. Beast Boy gazed up at the artificial moonlight and shivered a little in the early morning dew, still just thinking about Raven.

That's when he smelled them.

It was a musty, dark smell. A deep, bloodcurdling one like a bear or a large moose. A smell that meant it could kill you with very little trouble, and that you'd better scurry up the nearest tree. He was about to alert his team when the forest around them erupted. Giant monsters sprang from the bushes and ferns, teeth sharp and lashing out wildly. They were like bears and wolves; giant shadow-creatures that seemed to disappear and reappear in the darkness of the trees. Beast Boy now, more than ever, wished for the sun to rise.

Robin was on his feet, sword drawn. "Titans, GO!"

The battle was rough. It was clear that there was something supernatural going on with these creatures, just like the shadows in Malchior's trap earlier. When Cyborg had first swung his axe on the bear-like creature, he'd expected it to almost tear in half. Instead it was just knocked back a foot, and then kept charging as if nothing had happened.

"Uh oh." Cyborg blinked and then went toe to toe with the monster. His armor screeched with every swipe of the monster's claw. Beast Boy tried to flank it with a mean bite to it's hind leg, but was instead kicked promptly in the face and he had to back off a bit.

Cyborg kept its attention by yelling obscenities at the monster, and when Beast Boy had time to recover, the two worked as a team to finally bring the thing down.

While they were occupied, Robin and Starfire tag-teamed a small pack of wolf-like monsters. Small meaning that there were only about four of them in one pack. They were NOT small when it came to the size of them. Each black or grey wolf was two and a half times the size of a regular wolf, and I don't know if you know this, but wolves get pretty big.

"Starfire, behind you!" Robin called out to her. Just in time she was able to turn and land a huge blow on a leaping wolf. It yelped and skulked back into a shadow to recover.

"Don't let them respawn!" Robin called out to the whole team now. "Starfire, get some light in here!"

She nodded and, with her mage abilities, she was able to pull out an illumination card. It was called "Moonbeam" and it explained that it was able to "create light where it had not been before". Now the clearing was extremely bright, almost day. The team was now bathed in bright blue moonlight, but could now see what the beasts really were.

They were, indeed shadows, but without the darkness to dissolve into they were rotten. Like necromancy, these beasts looked like they had been brought back from the dead. They didn't ooze like the last few monsters had, but instead were falling apart. You could literally see their rib cages, ghosting out of them like a white fence. Their jaws were protruding out of the skin and their bear-wolf tails were half gone or hanging off.

"AH!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Turn the lights back off! They're hideous!"

Obviously the monsters didn't take that well. One great bear let out a terrifying scream and the rest of the pack charged. The difference now was (other than seeing their hideous faces), the Titans were finally able to do some damage. Cyborg's axe finally made contact, Robin's sword was hitting its mark and Starfire's Starbolts set some remaining tails on fire. Unfortunately, they grew in strength the more they took damage.

Beast Boy tried to imitate their form, but was unable to transform. Instead he became a polar bear, overwhelming the wolves but was the same size as the two bears. He swiped with his monstrous claws, raking them across the face, the back; the legs. He roared and fought, but grew more tired with every swing. He wished that he'd been able to keep the rose-vine weapon from the last challenge, but after trying to take it from the clearing he was penalized ten experience points. Rather than keep losing skill, he left it where it was. Now, he and his team were both exhausted and outnumbered. They hadn't had enough time to rest before this onslaught of attack. He felt sick, though not hungry like he thought he would be after all this time. Instead he was more drained and lacking in the strength to keep going, though not the motivation. Every time he thought of Raven, or Malchior or his own crumpled body on the kitchen floor, Beast Boy became more and more determined to not only finish this game, but to burn it to the ground.

They were really winning the fight until the moonbeam card started to fade. Starfire called out that they had only five minutes left before the beasts would overpower them. Robin thought about calling for a hasty retreat, but there was nowhere to go. Instead, they pushed through it, until the last few seconds of moonlight. Cyborg's stamina was at zero, he looked like he was about to power down. Starfire's mana was at twelve percent. Robin had run out of steam, and he stooped over his sword like a cane. Beast Boy was out of throwing knives and ideas.

In the darkness, the beasts stopped growling, instead everything was silent again. The team knew they couldn't rest, fearing that at any moment the monsters would emerge from their shadows again. In all of that, they'd only managed to kill two out of six.

It was for the rest of the night, until sunrise, that the Titan's would be scanning the shadows, completely on edge.

…

Malchior smiled, much to Raven's dismay. She didn't think it would all be just another trap. A distraction to prevent them from resting up for the boss battle to come. She shivered and sipped at a teacup. Malchior had promised that the brew would help heal her, but of course that was ridiculous. This was all just an illusion anyway. Still, the warm temperature and the familiar taste helped tend to her nerves.

"You know," Malchior grinned like a cheshire cat. "They really should be saving their energy."


	9. Compass Rose

**A/N: Hey guys! I wan't to apologize for the long hiatus, and then again for the short chapter. I've been so sick and busy, but Spring Break is next week so I should be finishing the whole story by March 10th or so! Very close to the end now!**

 **Thank you everyone who has been commenting, favoriting and following! You keep me going! (Sorry the going is slow...)**

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Their walk was exhausting.

They were completely destroyed from their night of paranoia. The dark wolf-bear monstrosities never came back, and they all felt tricked out of a good night's sleep. None of them, for a whole hour, mentioned how tired they were, but you could see it in their faces. Their feet shuffled across the ground, the twigs and vines catching them off guard at every single turn. The Titans were toast, and they knew it.

"Come on, team. We'll stop for water at that stream up ahead." Robin attempted to pep-talk them. "Then maybe we can take a ten minute break."

Beast Boy tried to maintain a little respect for his leader, and not grumble about a "ten" minute break being all they got.

There wasn't really a chance to reach the stream, though. Instead they came upon a crossroads in the middle of the woods. It was small, each path big enough for everyone to walk single-file, and the trees around it were enormous. Robin asked if Starfire could fly above them and see how far it was to the creek on their map. She flew up to check.

"Which way is it?" Cyborg asked.

Robin studied the old-looking sketched map that could have been ripped from _The Lord of the Rings_. "Um...west?" He looked up at the paths before them and then at the direction of the sun. "We're standing at the south, so it's to the left. North is toward the tower that Raven is in."

Cyborg nodded. "Okay, at least we're getting close. You only need one more level and the rest of us need two."

Robin nodded. They waited a little while longer before he called up to Starfire to check on her.

"No," She called back down. "It appears that I am prevented from going any further."

"Um…forward?" Beast Boy suggested, following the path that they had been on for what seemed like an eternity.

"The stream is to the left." Cyborg challenged.

Beast Boy shrugged. "We're kind of in a hurry."

"We need the water." Robin interjected.

"And what if the sand runs down?" Starfire asked, nervously. "We cannot afford to…how you say, dawdle here for too long."

Beast Boy threw his hands up in frustration. "Then I don't know! Pick one!"

Starfire looked wounded. "Do not shout, Beast Boy." She scolded him. "We can all come to an agreement, soon."

"Or…" Robin pointed out. They all turned to look at him. "Maybe we should ask some questions first."

They followed his gaze and, suddenly, where there wasn't before, an old man appeared in the middle of the crossroads. He was tall, but because of his age his back was stooped low over a warped cane made from white wood. His beard nearly touched the ground and he wore a long, blue cloak that covered his whole face.

"Greetings, Titans." He wheezed. "You seek the path to the castle?"

Beast Boy gave him a look that said 'um duh' and nodded. Robin crossed his arms. "Actually we were hoping to resupply at the stream."

"I'm afraid, son, that you cannot resupply anywhere around here. Though, I can sell you supplies, or trade them."

Robin looked wary. "Why? There's a catch, right?"

The old man nodded. From beneath his cloak he pulled out a huge lantern that glowed blue. He held it out before them and spoke.

"The castle lies down the path straight ahead."

"We know." Beast Boy mumbled.

"However," The old man continued. "A journey falls before you. You can resupply here before you undertake your final challenge."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Only one of you is permitted to go forward to the Castle. One must go right, one left and one back the way you came." He set the lantern on the ground before them and suddenly the path behind them was overcome with a _whoosh_ of cold air. When they turned around, it was completely different then when they'd first arrived. It now led down into a cavern underground, making it impossible to turn back.

The team looked at one another. "What is the purpose of this?" Starfire chipped in.

"This crossroad is a maze of sorts. You'll find that each path has a riddle, and each riddle triggers an opening in another person's path. The person headed toward the castle cannot continue until all other three paths are cleared by their teammates. However, when each path is cleared, the one who triggered it must face a ferocious beast, and so must the one on their way to the castle. One beast per path, except that one." He pointed behind him at the forward facing route. The one that lead to the castle. "That one has three beasts."

Robin crossed his arms. "This is the final boss? A maze/riddle thing?"

The old man nodded. "To leave this place forever, you _must_ go now, Titans. This dimension is fading, like your friend. Her cough grows worse, now shifting into a dark flu." His eyes shined with wisdom, but his words fell heavily like three feet of ice cold snow. "You must go _now_."

"Well, y'all? Whoever goes forward better be able to take them all." Cyborg pointed out. He shifted the bloodied axe on his shoulder, spattered from their scuffles with minor monsters earlier. "Anyone willing to volunteer?" He seemed like he was.

"I am strongest." Starfire pointed out as well. "Beasts do not frighten me."

"I _am one_." Beast Boy crossed his arms. "No biggie."

"No." Robin sighed. "I should go."

"Do you have a reason other than being the leader?" Cyborg asked.

Robin hesitated.

"Your boosted level means nothin'. We're _all_ her friend." Beast Boy answered for him. "I'd like to go." He raised a hand, volunteering.

So did Cyborg.

And Starfire.

Robin face-palmed and held out a hand for rock-paper-scissors. A quick tournament took place and it was down to Starfire and Beast Boy. Beast Boy, determined to win, chose rock. He easily smashed Starfire's scissors and then nodded.

"Okay." He said with finality. "Good luck, be safe." He turned to go, but Robin grabbed him.

"Here." He relented, letting Beast Boy (now older and a little more responsible than before) take the lead on this one. He handed him the hourglass with purple sand and said: "Good luck to you, too."

Beast Boy thanked him, and, taking a deep breath took the path ahead of him toward a twisted monster and his very best friend.

...

Robin elected to go left. Before him was a gravel path that led up and up toward what looked to be a whole freaking mountain. It reminded him of the time when he left to go train with a grand master in the mountains, and hoped at the very least he wouldn't run into a sassy monkey that smacked him in the face.

Starfire had turned back the way they'd come before. She expected it to be a boring route, as they'd already cleared every monster down this path. Except the path was completely different. Instead of winding back down through the forest, before her was a large, dark cave. Starfire could smell the moldy dampness and feel the chilly breeze from the outside of the cave already, and she shivered. Giving her friends one last look, she bravely moved forward and disappeared into the dark.

The final path, off to the right, had a pleasant breeze coming from it, and warm sunlight filtered through the trees. He smelled flowers and tall grasses, everything was dewy and fresh. He smiled a little to himself at how pretty it was, but was a little dissapointed that he was getting the easiest path. He hoisted the axe farther on his shoulder and sauntered off, confident that this would be a piece of cake.


	10. Into the Dark

**A/N: You guys, I am so so sorry! I know I promised to be done during Spring Break, and now it's been 13 days and this is the first thing I've posted since! I am so sorry about that, but I promise, it's still in the works and I have the next chapter almost finished. This is an early apology chapter, and I vow to post the next one this Sunday!**

 **Thank you all for still being with me, following and getting updates, and I hope you'll still review and tell me how I'm doing! I'm finishing this for all of you out there, and myself as well.**

* * *

Beast Boy almost groaned out loud at the monotony of yet _another_ 'cheery' forest path ahead of him. He thought he would go insane if he had to look at another balsam or spruce tree, and when a squirrel ran by his path, he morphed into a green version of it and asked it a few questions just to break up the boredom. Apparently, Sir Cashew III was on his way to a shelter in the Blackwood district of the forest. As a "Sir of the Trees" it was his duty to warn any and all travelers on the road when danger was coming. There was going to be a dark storm to the north, and he warned Beast Boy not to follow the path ahead of him. Beast Boy thanked the wary traveler and assured him he'd be fine, that he could become any animal and was one of the strongest Superheroes ever known. The squirrel was skeptical and, flicking his tail to show discomfort, left the unhinged green rodent behind him in search of his wife and grandchildren.

Beast Boy waited patiently for the squirrel to disappear into the trees before returning to his normal state. "Helpful." He groaned after the regular-colored squirrel.

He didn't know what kind of dark storm the animal was talking about, in fact he thought it would just be some thunderstorm and thanked the game that he was given a hood with his costume. The idea that the storm could be, in fact, something far more sinister did cross his mind, but it wasn't like he could turn back.

"No way." He said aloud, trudging up the forest path. "No way am I turning back."

Raven was at the end of this path. Cold, sick and alone. Well… not totally alone. Malchior was lying in wait, haunting her from behind. A dark presence. It made him bristle with distaste.

"Stupid, green eyed, not-a-real-animal dragon-faced jerk." He thought about his own green eyes and thought they looked far more natural than Malchior's neon-colored ones. Not that Beast Boy was prone to vanity, he just thought a lot about his appearance lately.

He never used to, but since he'd shot up a few inches, gained a bit more muscle and his voice didn't crack anymore, he'd been thinking even more about himself. Mostly how others were viewing him. Especially girls.

The problem with that, he thought as he hopped a fallen log, was that the only girls who saw him on a daily basis were Star and Raven. Sometimes Bumblebee, but mostly his two teammates. How do you judge yourself based on that brand of closeness? He'd asked Cyborg once about the girls and how they might see him now, only succeeding in getting tormented for it. At least a week went by before Cyborg's jokes ended, usually in Beast Boy blushing and choking on almond milk.

He jogged steadily along the path, hoping to get to his destination quickly. He'd chosen this path and wanted to make sure he saw it through. He was blushing now, thinking about those couple awkward years between fourteen and nineteen. He shuddered to think that that had ever even been that age: dorky, naive; a puppy dog in love with Tara. Now he was a grown Titan, volunteering to take the most difficult route toward the literal boss battle. To prove to himself that he could. To knock Malchior's teeth in.

To save Raven.

He groaned aloud and kicked up some dirt before him. " _Stop_ that." He scolded himself. He was referring to his emotions, which always seemed to flare up when he thought about the situation they were in. He chalked it up to irritability, but his heart would ache a little in some ways whenever he thought about finally getting her back. Would they ever get her back? He kept jogging, ignoring the irregular heartbeat. _I probably just need some food in me. I'm tired_. He reasoned. _It's not...that._

Suddenly he skid to a halt. In the distance, maybe another half mile ahead of him, was a wall. "Looks like the freaking Great Wall of China…" he commented to no one. It was grey and stone like a chiseled mountain, but there was a shock of color on the right side. Orange and red.

"Oh, no."

He kicked it into high gear.

Beast Boy approached the gate in awe. It was a huge stone structure that fenced off the path before him, at least ten of himself stacked upon the other would have measured its height. It had two stone doors thicker, he thought, than the ones at the tower. On one door was what looked to be a woman, large but shrunken. Her skin was pale and grey, cracking in some places, veiny in others. Her nose drooped over a toothless mouth, and her eyes were hideously glassy and made of white rock. On the other door, was Starfire. An orange goddess with fiery red hair, she was draped in mage robes of purple and white. Beast Boy gulped a little. To see his friend compared with that monster was horrifying, and he didn't even know how Star was coping or even where she was right now. His ears drooped a little at the thought. 

… 

Starfire had turned back the way they'd come before. She expected it to be a boring route, as they'd already cleared every monster down this path. Except the path was completely different. Instead of winding back down through the forest, before her was a large, dark cave. Starfire could smell the moldy dampness and feel the chilly breeze from the outside of the cave already, and she shivered. After Beast Boy had gone ahead on his own journey, Starfire gave Robin and Cyborg one last look, and she bravely moved forward and disappeared into the dark.

The smell down here was, by any Earthling's standards, moldy, sulfuric and overall suffocating. However, to Starfire's alien nose, it was relatively pleasant. It reminded her of the firework festivals on her homeland that, one year, nearly took down the whole castle with the explosions. Oh, how the planet had laughed at the joyous occasion, and Starfire herself was feeling a little homesick the farther in she traveled through the cave. She did have this to say about it, it was damp. Her starbolts fizzled a little while she traveled, but it worried her little. There didn't seem to be anything stirring down here. Rather, it was incredibly quiet.

Silence.

She shivered now, it was eerie and unsettling. Her quick change in mood was only outrun by her change in pace, while she now trotted through the dark, winding underground. Now that she was down here, it frightened her to think that there was no way to fly, or to escape quickly. The walls closed in around her, suffocating her. Starfire had never experienced claustrophobia before, but she sure as starshine wouldn't forget it.

Just as she feared she would never leave this place again, Starfire emerged through one tunnel opening to find herself in a gorgeous oasis underground. There was a small crack in the ceiling that let in sunlight, and she could smell the fresh air coming through it as well. She breathed in deeply and sighed in relief.

"That was...scary." She shivered in the damp cave. The small crack of sunlight was helping, but it was still very dark in here. She raised a hand and attempted a glowing starbolt to find her way, but it again fizzled in her hands. Before it went out, she saw staring back at her, the reflection of what seemed like a thousand little eyes.

Starfire had only a small moment to gasp aloud before they pounced.

It was a loud fight. The blasting of her fizzled starbolts echoed horrendously throughout the cavern. The flashing was making her sick, but her panic to keep the slimy, blind ghouls at bay was stronger than her stomach. Starfire hissed Tamaranean profanities at them, wondering just how many she'd have to fight. She worried that maybe she wouldn't get to the end, because her starbolts were still fizzling. Little screeching things pulled at her hair, she turned and backhanded it across the cave. It flew toward the wall, but never made contact. Instead everything stopped and went silent. It hovered blankly in the air, and Starfire's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Finally, it fell, revealing what looked to be like a horrendous old witch.

Starfire blinked, wishing she could back away, but the cave was so small. The horrible witch screeched and flew at poor Star. The two were quickly locked in a struggle for power against the other. Starfire was barely able to get her arm around enough to sucker punch the witch's old jaw. She gagged at all the little teeth that crackled against the damp stone flooring.

"Hyaaah!" She advanced again, not letting the old bag get another drop on her. Her mage's gown singed at the hem when her leg came up to catch the witch in the gut. The crackling of fiery magic in Starfire was bubbling to the surface.

While the crone was down on the hard floor, Starfire quickly searched her bag for a deck of cards. _It's time I learned what "summoner" really means_. She thought. Starfire pulled out a vicious-looking card that had sharp edges. It read: Venomous Bat. She put all her hope into the card and summoned with all her strength. With her starbolts completely gone, this was her last chance.

As the spell warmed up, much to Star's dismay, the Witch's creatures were piling themselves on top of her. From their collection grew an even more hideous, dark blind witch-creature, that now stooped low, head almost hitting the ceiling. Starfire gulped, staring at the card in her hands.

"Anytime now, please?" She whispered to the card. Not wanting to be rude, she allowed it some more time by sprinting back and forth throughout the small cavern. She swore the walls were closing in on her, it couldn't' have been this small when she'd first entered! She couldn't even fly off if she tried.

"The summoning card should be working _now_ please!" Starfire cried as the Witch bore down upon her. There was a horrifying moment where Starfire thought that she wasn't able to summon anything; that Malchior had tricked her and her friends once more, and that this would be her last moment. The Witch reached for her with elongated, shadow-claws that scraped Star's shoulders with a fiery bite.

Caught in a death grip and now without the hope of the card, Starfire screamed.


	11. Trial and Error

**A/N:** **Late again, I know. I really appreciate the views though! You're views and comments are all that keep me going!**

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Cutting through the darkness was a blinding light. The Witch woman screamed, a hissing shrill cry before retreating a little, allowing Starfire to back up against one of the slimy walls. From the light burst forth a great, white bat. It flew at the Witch, spitting poison gas. Starfire was reminded of one of Beast Boy's games where the bat-looking animal used magical powers like "poison sting" and "absorb". It circled the cave making no noise. It soared through the darkness like a bright star, and Starfire was hopeful once again. The poison gas clouded the small space, and for a moment Star feared that it would hurt her as well, but the great bat made sure to keep the cloud focused on the Witch.

Speaking of the Witch… "Eww…" Starfire commented.

The great poison cloud was bubbling away the Witch's grey skin. Her white, blind eyes were sizzling in pain and after seeing that, Starfire had to look away. When it was done, the bat hung gracefully from the ceiling, the poisonous cloud dissipating through the skylight.

Starfire panted against the wall, shivering. Above her the Bat rustled its wings gently, barely making any sound. She smiled up at it, grateful and relieved that she _was_ able to summon monsters. Especially since this monster-bat turned out so helpful. She smiled wider when she realized that her starbolts and flight ability were revving back up. She and the bat then made their way out of the cave through the skylight into the setting sun. In the glorious light, Starfire had to shield her eyes. She wasn't sure where she was going, nor where she'd end up, but she flew anyway toward the castle, hoping that Beast Boy would be alright with his first challenge.

…

Beast Boy was NOT alright with his first challenge, and was now thinking that if this was how all three were going to be, he'd made the wrong choice after all. A massive gargoyle bore down on him from above. The beating of it's wings could kick up small tornadoes at its feet, and Beast Boy struggled to keep up. They had been fighting for what felt like forever, but it in reality the fight had only just begun. All he could think was: _I'm glad Starfire beat her monster, but damn this thing is tough!_

Beast Boy roared, his reptilian tail thrashed at the dirt and scrub beneath him. His T-Rex teeth gnashed at the stone monster before him, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't make a scratch on it's skin.

When you turn into a bigger predator, such as a T-Rex, you also turned into a bigger target. Beast Boy found it more difficult to sidestep the Gargoyle's strikes, and opted for a hawk instead. With a quick flap of his wings he was here one second and gone the next. Beast Boy perched in a large pine tree to reassess the situation. Without his team, without Robin, he'd have to size this thing up and make his own decisions about how to take it down properly. The Gargoyle's horribly white eyes searched the area for him. The whole thing was made from glorious white marble, the same stone, in fact, that the Witch's gross, blind eyes were made from. The beast before him was also gilded with golden lines through his wings and on his claws. It was probably the prettiest monster he'd ever fought. Unless you counted Blackfire.

Beast Boy hawk-chuckled at his own joke but was discovered shortly after. _Dude, why'd I do that?_ He scolded himself, taking off before the tree was destroyed.

If that old squirrel could see him now, he'd probably scold him too for tearing down the forest. Beast Boy morphed back to his humanoid form and clung to the back of one of the gilded wings.

"It's not _my_ fault that this thing is the size of the statue of liberty!" Beast Boy yelled out loud, arguing with no one. "Maybe if it weren't so freaking huge, the forest wouldn't be stomped flat!"

The Gargoyle was rightly irritated with the joy-rider on his back, and he fanned his wings vigorously to try and get Beast Boy off. It was probably the most nauseating ride Beast Boy had been on, but he learned something from it. The great Gargoyle couldn't get his stone arms behind him, probably couldn't even scratch himself. He, now shaking like a leaf, crawled his way up the beast's back and dug his proverbial claws into the monster's neck. Balancing one of his daggers in his mouth, he reached into his pocket for the deck of cards. There had to be _something_ to take this thing down. If it wasn't his brute strength and T-Rex teeth, it would be one of the cards.

Beast Boy shivered when the Gargoyle roared. It screeched like nails on a chalkboard. He shuffled through cards, pulling this one and that one out.

"Assassin's Blade". _Pass,_ he thought. _There's no way that's cutting through_.

"Dark Shadow". _I don't think being invisible is going to help me now._

"Purple Miasma". _Like this thing even has regular lungs. Besides, it has Friendly Fire, meaning it'll probably kill me, too_.

While he was taking a rodeo ride on the back of the monster, he felt himself start slipping. He stowed away the cards and took off, flying low and out of the Gargoyle's vision. He perched himself in a thicker tree and told himself to be more quiet this time. Safely hidden by the boughs, Beast Boy _did_ use "Dark Shadow", allowing himself to stay there and catch his breath. It used up some points to play, but it made him feel better. He took out the stats journal and assessed his level.

 _Rogue/Assassin_

Level 9

Strength: 150

Stealth: 350

Critical Hit: 375

Health: 437/850

Points: 1,520

He shivered at his meager health bar. When he hit level 10, he should have 1,000, but for now he was at half. He searched the bag, just in case and found a few potions and a revive. He held onto the revive, fastening it around his neck in the event he did actually "die" in this fight. It cost him 200 points to play "Dark Shadows" since he wasn't a mana based character, and he doubted that the card he needed was going to come cheap. He ran his hands through his hair. He'd need those points for the rest of the boss battles, and right now he was kicking himself for wasting any.

"Damn…" he whispered.

There _had_ to be something. He frantically checked every card. "Golem's Army", "Tentacle Wraith", "Wizard's Cap Trap", "Falling Star". Nothing seemed like it would work. Finally, and miraculously, Beast Boy stumbled upon an awesome-looking card near the end.

"Deep Sand": _Trap Card._ Renders enemy immobile waist-up, after 2 turns/10 minutes, the enemy is hardened to the spot. Warning: No effect on flying creatures.

Beast Boy gulped. The Gargoyle clearly had wings, though he hadn't seen him off of the ground. That didn't mean that it couldn't fly, it just seemed unlikely at this point. He pulled out the card, quietly summoned it and prayed.

Beneath the Gargoyle, quicksand appeared, swirling and roiling like a tan-brown sea. It snaked up the ankles of the great stone beast, and Beast Boy was sure that it would work. Unfortunately, Beast Boy was right. Even though he hadn't seen the monster fly before, the Gargoyle, now understanding what was happening, began to beat its massive wings. The colliding sounds of stone wings and a stone back was deafening. It was as if a mountain were having a fight with itself, and the roaring of stone crackling together was horrific. Beast Boy's heart sunk, and he pulled his hood over his ears to block out the noise.

 _I'll have to keep looking_. He thought, but he wasn't sure any other card was going to work. He was _so_ sure that this had been it!

Suddenly, horrifically and very, very loudly, one of the Gargoyle's wings snapped off. Beast Boy blinked, realizing a little too late that the wing was going to fall right on top of him, probably crushing him into a green puddle. He quickly flew away, a small sparrow beating its soft little wings much faster than the Gargoyle could, and he made it out with all of his tail feathers. The dust cloud that arose from the fall of the stone wing was huge, clouding everything in the "arena". Beast Boy took the opportunity to become an elephant upon the Gargoyle's head, helping it sink lower and lower into the quicksand.

 _It's gotta be about ten minutes by now_! Beast Boy thought to himself. It would be stuck soon, it had to be! He became a blue whale now, really forcing the stone monster to get its ankles caught in the sand, then its calves and finally the knees. Just as he was exhausted from changing and morphing, the Gargoyle was in up to its waist.

He'd done it.

The monster screeched and screamed, the sun glistening off of its golden wing. Beast Boy wondered why it didn't freeze up in the sun. Actually, the sun was setting. The golden Gargoyle, instead of freezing up in the sun, was beginning to crackle and break in the dark. When the sun finally set, and a sliver of moonlight began to rise over the horizon, the Gargoyle turned to dust.

"OH YEAH!" Beast Boy exclaimed loudly, no longer afraid to make noise.

He frantically checked his journal stats for a second, worried he was in the danger zone, but after examining it, he realized he only lost another hundred points. One of the potions fixed him right up, and he found some "candy" that granted him more points for summoning cards. He grinned from pointed ear to pointed ear, and set off on the path, leaving the dusty mess behind him.

...

Somewhere in a chilly castle tower, Raven was also grinning.

"Why do you never smile at me like that?" Malchior lamented half-heartedly. Raven was learning not to give into his charming tricks.

"You don't deserve it." She stated plainly, sipping tea like a Cheshire cat.

He huffed from his chair, scratching the rim of his own teacup with nasty black claws. He was getting worse with every hour. His face was cracking, his hands almost completely back to scales and a single horn was growing on the right side of his head. "Fine." He stated, also plainly. "Go ahead and be proud of your little green boy. I'll be right here when he fails, a shoulder to cry on if you will." He offered.

She tried not to gag. "Your shoulder is looking a little too spiky for anyone to rest their head."

It was easier to see him bristle now when his scales rose and fell in irritation. "No matter," he attempted to remain charming. "We can go and pick out another vessel together, anyone you want. I want to make sure my appearance appeals to you. Once you're mine."

She rolled her eyes. "After this is over I'll make sure you never steal another soul again. Or breathe."

He laughed. Raven remembered when his laugh was comforting and charming. Now it was terrible and scratchy. A small part of her wanted to reminisce those old feelings of acceptance, maybe even love, but seeing him now and the thing he had become made it very difficult to summon any thoughts. Instead she gazed longingly at the board game, wishing she could help. All she wanted to do right now was tap into her own magic and power, to use it against this stupid creature before her and help her friends.

 _Instead_ , she smiled a little at the irony, _I'll just have to trust Beast Boy with my life._


	12. Pathways

**A/N: Hey, Readers! Song here, coming at you live on a Wednesday! Obviously the schedule has been thrown out the window for these last few chapters. Instead I've been trying to write as much as possible and get it out when chapters finally come together. Don't worry, the end is pretty much finished, so you'll get that ending.**

 **I love you all so much! Thanks for reading, following and favoriting!**

 **Here we go!**

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Robin, in the beginning, had elected to go left. Before him was a gravel path that led up and up toward what looked to be a whole freaking mountain. It reminded him of the time when he left to go train with a grand master in the mountains, and hoped at the very least he wouldn't run into a sassy monkey that smacked him in the face. Instead the path proved to be less annoying and more treacherous than he thought. The rocks beneath his feet were loose and slippery. The path before him was very narrow, and he feared that any enemies he might encounter would easily throw him off the mountain.

"Well," he mumbled aloud. "Not _that_ easily."

The sky above him was blue and bright, but as he climbed higher, it got cooler. It was later in the day, and he only had a few hours before sunset. He hoisted his pack up farther, allowing some of the heat he'd collected there to reach the rest of his back, and he kept moving. He only hoped his friends would be alright.

Robin had a lot of faith in his team. They were a group of extremely talented superheroes. He knew that one day they'd be on the same level as the Avengers or the Justice League, and sometimes he couldn't help but beam with pride thinking that he would have been the one to help them get there. Still, there was a part of him that did get a little anxious when the team had to split up on missions. Again, he knew how capable they were, but that didn't mean he didn't worry about them when they were out of his sight.

Above all today, Raven had been out of his sight the most. He feared for her health and he feared for her emotional state. But that wasn't something he could get under control. The only thing that he could do now to help her was to face this monster at the top of this mountain and win.

The path before him was getting thinner and thinner with each yard he traveled. It was unsettling to say the least. He thought briefly about using his grappling hook, but figured that if all the rocks on this mountain were that loose, he'd better not chance it. The traction up there would be less than 20%, and frankly, he didn't like the idea of sliding right off of this dang hill. He sighed and kept going, allowing his feet to just take him farther and farther up the mountain. Nothing had come out of the stonework, so to speak, and for a little while he wondered if this was some big joke. Vultures circled the air next to him, giving him the feeling that he was much higher than he thought. Their eyes said: hungry. He resisted throwing a stone at one of them and kept climbing. Eventually, the small path came to a point where he could no longer walk at an incline, but instead would have to actually climb. A rock wall if you will. Robin was not deterred. He grinned even, showing off as his acrobatic skills helped him scale the wall with ease. When he reached the top he had a spring in his step. The change in path gave him hope that the way ahead would actually start leading him somewhere.

Robin was surprised, and a little disappointed, that he'd taken what looked to be an easy route. Sure it was physically exhausting, he couldn't fly and therefore was forced to keep climbing, keep going, but nothing was happening. He was frustrated. Was his challenge to climb this mountain into purgatory? Was there even _anything_ up here? _There will be_ , he told himself. _I just have to keep going._

And going.

Going.

Up, higher and higher.

The air was getting thinner; colder. Robin panted, arms above his head to help fill his lungs. Winds around him echoed off of the rocks, sending a chilling whisper in his direction. It was like screeching; taunting him. Robin, vigilant as ever, stumbled upon a wooden chest that held supplies inside it. He almost cried out in happiness when he found a map and a thick coat that came down to his calfs. It was like sheep fur or something, and while that did bother him a little bit, he wore it anyway. The wind was finally not bothering him anymore, but the weight of the coat did make it more difficult to keep climbing. The map told him that he was going in the wrong direction, which frustrated him even more, and instead of following the path he turned to the side, following a more treacherous route toward an open cave.

 _Makes sense_. He thought.

Once or twice he slipped and slid backward a little bit, his muscles tensed up to help keep him upright and not slide right off of the mountain. The shrubbery around him was brittle and the roots came right out of the ground, so there was no using them for grip. He frowned, still panting, and of course kept going. His gloved hands were letting him down, slipping and losing grip here and there. He took off the gloves and kept going. The wind whipped at his warm jacket, making him fear that it would pull him right off of the mountain. Once or twice it pulled him to the right, making him sweat. His sword was feeling, for the first time, incredibly heavy. Almost burdensome. For some reason, all he could think of doing was tearing off the sword, the coat, his pack; everything. Just throw it down the ravine. He was so tired.

 _So tired_.

When Robin finally made it to the huge stable ledge with the cave, he felt more than relieved, he felt light. Free; unburdened. Frowning, he pulled out his journal to check his stats. Next to his name a small symbol flashed purple. It was an "A" circled in a small sun. He checked the key for the journal. Next to the same symbol was the term: _afflicted_.

"Afflicted? With what?" He kept looking at the journal.

 _Players can be afflicted with curses, hexes, poisons and confusions_. _To remove an affliction, a player can kill the thing that cast the curse, hex, venom or confusion and/or drink a potion, depending on the severity._

Robin grit his teeth, thinking about the gloves he'd taken off earlier. He thought about the urge to throw all of his supplies down a gorge. He'd been cursed with some fatigue-ing spell, and now that he was no longer in that zone, he felt much lighter. Except, he was still afflicted. Robin rolled his shoulders back and forth, getting the blood flowing. He searched his pack for a potion. Any potion. For some reason he couldn't remember if he'd found one earlier in the wooden chest, and he felt like throwing something.

 _This is way too frustrating,_ he thought. _Where's this great monster, anyway?_

As if on cue, as villains always tend to be, a hissing came from the cave. Robin knew better than to blame it on the gusty wind. He dreaded the fight he knew was going to come, mostly because the air was so thin up here, he'd barely kept hold of his breath as it was. He braced himself, drawing the sword and wishing he could find his gloves, but he assumed that in his trance he'd thrown them down the gorge. He knelt on the ground, sword in one hand while the other scoured the pack for any potion that could cure him. He finally stumbled upon an orange-yellow one that reminded him of Starfire. It was shining and bright and beautiful. On the label it read "Drink Me", but in fine print below that it read "I'm good for curing curses", followed by a winky face. Robin rolled his eyes and drank it. It burned like hot fire, pulling his curse from his body. It wove into and out of his blood stream, pulling on his senses and his muscles, burning away any tainted thoughts or feelings. He tried not to scream, knowing the monster was just within reach in the cave.

Instead he grit his teeth, pulled himself from his knees, and readied his sword.

...

Cyborg whistled to himself as he followed a charming stone path that wove its way through tall grass. Rather than walk, the great big Titan actually skipped a little. He still felt bad that he got the easy end of the stick, but it almost felt like a relaxing vacation from the hellish night they had had before. He almost sat down for a bit to catch some "zzz's" but he knew that it would be no help to anyone if he didn't defeat the bunny rabbit at the end of this flowery rabbit hole. The more he skipped along the charming path, the taller the grass got. It was up to his waist, then his shoulders, and now, above his head. He frowned.

"Wow, that escalated quickly." He commented to no one. When he turned around to backtrack and get a better look at his surroundings, he found the path to be blocked by equally tall grasses, as if he'd never been there before. Now he was almost grimacing. "I don't like the looks of this."

Around him, birds chirped cheerily, and grasshoppers perched and hopped from tall stalk to stalk. He could smell wildflowers and almost sneezed at the overwhelming sensations you usually got in a greenhouse. Cyborg stretched his arms over his head and thought about how the sun was shining and warm. He cracked his knuckles. There was no way that this place could be as amazing as it seemed, and he was waiting for the other foot to fall. The axe on his shoulder weighed heavy with every step, and the path before him was almost certainly leading him to danger. Everything seemed so peaceful, but the skin on his neck prickled.

He kept going, there was no other option. The flowery field became a labyrinth of grasshoppers and voles that scurried in his path. He started to feel the heat of the sun for real now. It was less pleasant and more uncomfortable. He touched his metal arm to the skin on his face and grimaced at the heat. The axe weighed heavier and heavier the farther he got, and finally he felt himself slowing down. Cyborg frowned at the grass walls around him, down at the little mushrooms that littered the path. He cursed internally at the cute little grasshoppers and blue birds and suddenly wondered if he were going insane.

Finally, he came to a fork in the maze.

The left side was dark and rotting, as if it were suddenly autumn down that path. Little red and yellow leaves blew toward him, as if on the breath of some monster that lay dormant; waiting for its next meal.

The right side was bright and cheery. A small bunny rabbit happily cleaned its little face with fluffy paws, twitching its ears in delight when a gentle breeze came from behind it. It wrinkled its nose jokingly toward Cyborg and made as if to lead him down the path.

"Oh yeah," Cyborg frowned down at the bunny. "Like I'm gonna go follow you, Peter Rabbit down your hellish nightmare of a rabbit hole. Nah." He shook his head and angrily stomped down the deep, dark scary lane. Mostly because a colder breeze came from it, and he wanted out of the heat, but also because the bunny rabbit had been purple with bright green eyes.

"He must think I'm an idiot." Cyborg commented to no one. He really wished his friends were here to laugh about that obvious trap. "Follow the Purple Rabbit, Cyborg! Yeah right." He mocked, shaking his head.

The deep, dark scary path turned out to be another maze. Corn, instead of grasses, grew on the left and right sides; a late summer harvest. Instead of closing up behind him, Cyborg was actually making choices. First he went left, but it was a dead end with a spooky-ass scarecrow waiting for him. So, he backtracked and went right. That led him to another right, a left, two more lefts and one final right before he emerged into a corn-arena.

He sighed. There was no outlet and no more paths to take but for the one behind him (which didn't close up). In the center of the arena was a single rock formation that resembled a cave. It was beneath a grassy knoll, and a large tree grew atop it. Cyborg narrowed his eyes, knowing that this was probably a nice little trap. He pulled the axe from his back and held it close, scanning the rest of the clearing, but it was all corn and yellowed grass. There were a few grasshoppers left, prancing this way and that around his ankles. Cyborg caught one and glanced at it. It was also purple.

"Sorry, little buddy." He apologized before whipping it hard into the open mouth of the cave. Expecting there to be repercussions, he was surprised when nothing happened. The sun was setting, and the moon was just rising a little over the corn fields. Of course it had to be full, and of course it had to look like an orange-red harvest moon. He shivered at the now colder arena and actually just wished that something would come out of the cave to fight him.

Instead, it came from the corn.

A musty, deep smell came to Cyborg on a gentle breeze. The light rustling of the cornfield made him edgy, but so far he hadn't seen anything. He turned this way and that, realizing that his back was always going to be facing the field. He suddenly realized how exposed he was. The smell really got to him, and finally, Cyborg heard a more intentional rustling just next to him.

It was a miracle, really, that the big Titan was able to turn just in time, axe shielding him, when a great, big lion-like creature burst from the corn. It had been stalking him for some time, only now just hungry enough under the light of the moon to strike. Blocked by the axe on its first attempt to maul the metal man, the lion retreated a few steps and circled him. Cyborg was panting from the initial shock of the hunt. His adrenaline told him to run like heck, but his trained mind was telling him to make a plan and watch his back. He hoped that this odd-looking lion didn't hunt in a pride.

It was odd. It was like a regular male lion, large, maned and vicious-looking, but was all black. That was going to be a problem when it got really dark, though the moon might help a little. The only bright feature on the lion was a small white tip to its tail. It bobbed and toyed with Cyborg as the lion wove in and out of the corn. First it was here, then there. Then he thought he saw it! But it was just a shiny bug in the moonlight.

Cyborg tried using his robot eye to scan for heat signatures, but to no avail. The game wouldn't allow him to tap into his regular equipment, as he had an axe and bonuses from his "marauder/berserker" status.

He shook it off, trying not to be too spooked by a little white tail fluff. He tried to imagine it was just like training with Beast Boy, who was good at being quiet when he had soft tiger paws. He calmed his breathing and his heart, trying to let his ears take him in the right direction. If the game wouldn't let him use his own creations to help him win, he'd do it himself.

He grinned, his ears had picked up something to his right. His back was to the cave, so the lion must have really circled the arena. He waited for it to pounce, knowing that he could backhand it with his axe. It did just that.

"GHAA!" He cried, throwing the large cat backward with the flat edge of his double-edged axe. It made an _oomph_ sound, and fell to the ground before retreating back into the corn field.

He _whooped_ and hollered: "Booyah! Come _get_ me, kitty!"


	13. Fear and Failure

**A/N: Hey guys, it's me, Song!**

 **Thanks again for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting! I can't tell you how much it means to me! This update was a long time coming, and I know that we still have some story to go, but I promise we're nearing the end!**

* * *

What emerged from the mountain cave was nothing less than extraordinary. While Robin was dodging blows left and right with his hero's sword, he had brief moments to laugh at the irony of the creature before him. A great, mountain dragon with grey and blue wings roared and soared above him. It spit snow and ice, gusts of wind threatened to blow him off of the mountain. Its eyes were completely black to block out the glare of the sun, but all-seeing. Even when he was dodging between boulders, Robin was unable to escape its sight. He thought he was better at the art of elusiveness than this and, already feeling drained and tired, he did his best to hunker down behind a large rock outcropping. The dragon was close behind, its claws scraping the ground in chalkboard-nail-like fashion. Robin grimaced, wishing he had a better view of the creature. The precariousness of the mountain prevented an aerial view and the wind and ice magic the dragon seemed to possess prevented getting even close to it.

The rock outcropping above him was torn away, causing a small rock slide to collapse on Robin, hitting him in the knee and the shoulder. He bit down a cry of pain and started running again, more like limping, actually. He got under the dragon's tail, raising his sword and slicing deeply into the tendons. Just as he picked up enough speed to outrun a blast of ice from the dragon, a gust of wind from it's wings slid his right foot just off of the rocks. His eyes widened for a small second, feeling a whoosh through his stomach, as if he'd missed that last stair in the dark before he plummeted downward.

...

" _No_!" Raven gasped, knocking over her teacup and splattering it all over the game board. _Robin was falling, he was falling. He's going to die, not Robin, no please._

Malchior turned away from his queen to dab at the drops of tea on the board with a purple handkerchief. He hummed a little to himself, wishing more than anything that the fool Boy Wonder _would_ plummet straight down and off of that cliff, reawakening in the real world only to find that his precious friends were still trapped, Raven perhaps forever. _How alone he'd feel._ Malchior thought to himself as he carefully folded the handkerchief and left it to rest on the stones of the fireplace to dry.

He stretched his body and felt the tense muscles give way and crackle. He was nervous, yet the leader of his love's little band of misfit heroes wasn't really his concern. No, he was far more interested in the fate of Beast Boy, the tall green one who was making his way closer and closer to the castle. If he succeeded in fighting all three monsters, Malchior, per their agreement, would have to give up the one thing he'd never been able to hold on to.

Well, not this time.

He'd keep Raven as long as he had to, until her body died on the kitchen floor of the Titan's tower, or until her mangled mind snapped forever. Her soul, though, would remain. It's very difficult to destroy a soul. They can be changed, reshaped through reincarnation, but never destroyed. Not without very serious spiritual and demonic power, something that Malchior still did not possess. Even if he did, he'd never destroy Raven's soul. It was far to precious, dusted gently with new and old book smell, littered with herbs and dried flowers that you found in tea shops and peppered with horror, terror, guilt and blood lust. She was his perfect match. Probably his _only_ match for the rest of his existence. To let her go? To give up a soul that matched his own so powerfully? Why, it was unthinkable.

He sat down next to her and watched as the Boy Wonder regained some footing and held fast to the side of the mountain, taking shelter there from the torrential winds that threatened to throw him away like the trash he was. He gently patted her knee and felt her jerking reaction. It hurt him every time she shied away from him. Didn't she understand compatibility when she saw it? A chance for absolute, partnered perfection? Forget her " _team" (_ His mind added air quotes around the word), the team that the two of them together could create? Their combined powers?

Catastrophic. Perfect, calculated catastrophe that would wreak havoc on this glittered era of humanity.

He could smell her hair from here, as even though she'd shied away from his touch she'd not vocalized her distaste for his proximity to her. He breathed it in, reclining only a little toward her right shoulder. The plush red couch and the roaring fire were warm. She was warm. His ears could pick up the blood pulsing through her throat, her gentle, butterfly breaths and her beating heart that rested beneath the most perfect form.

"Oh, Raven." He sighed. "You worry too much. Your heart is beating wildly. Would that you only cared for _my_ well-being like that. Have I mistaken your 'perpetual-single-woman' facade? Are you already in love?"

Malchior gestured to Robin, scrunching up his nose at the small man on the game board. Of course everything about him screamed "hero". The weapon that chose him was literally labeled "Hero's Sword". He'd sized them all up when he met them, seeing them for what they really were. Innocent souls, young, broken and repaired again and again through the 'power of friendship'. Robin's was tortured and dark, littered with regrets and heavy responsibility. He came closest to matching his beloved's soul in shared past anguish, but was still child's play from what she had suffered at the hands of her family. The thought of her having feelings for the leader of her team was laughable.

Raven turned to look at him, her pale face regaining some color after her initial shock. Now that Robin wasn't going to die just yet, she'd realized how close he was.

"Of course I love him, but no, not in that way." She snipped. "He's family. They all are."

Malchior tilted his head in thought. "All of them? None of them have earned your affections?"

"Affections? Seriously?" She pulled her arms close to her chest and hugged the crewneck sweatshirt to her, only slightly shivering. "No, Malchior. None of them."

"Hmm." He scratched his face a little, ignoring the small bits of blood that dripped from it. For the sake of her friends, he prayed she was telling the truth. This time, unlike the last time he'd seen her, he desperately didn't want to make her cry again. He was sure that if she had a crush, seeing him be murdered by Malchior would do the trick.

"I'll choose to believe you, sweet one." He patted her head and she practically hissed. Begrudgingly he pulled away and resumed his seat in the opposite armchair. They both stared down at the game board now, both deep in thought. Malchior wondered how many minions he could throw on the cliffside, or how many murderous crows he could send after the metal man.

Raven was wondering (and worrying) about how fast Robin was going to kill that dragon.

...

 _ **09:33**_

Beast Boy tried not to be sick on the road. Only about nine and a half hours remained on their quest to save Raven and time was still ticking. He'd only just defeated his first boss creature out of three, and he wasn't even to the second gate yet. He had tried to pick up the pace an hour earlier as a cheetah, but every time he morphed, his stamina bar fell drastically. Eventually, and much to his own embarrassment, he'd passed out on the path from exhaustion only twenty minutes later. He'd woken up on a mossy bed off to the side of the road. A small bird had been flitting back and forth over his head, possibly either worried for him or angry he was sleeping there. At first he thought it was like one of those cartoon birds that showed up when you were knocked out, and Beast Boy was almost 99% sure he had gone insane. But, when he reached out a hand to let the bird rest on it, it did, and when he felt it's small weight on his hand he was grateful he wasn't crazy.

Unable to morph and ask the bird any questions, Beast Boy thanked it for its concern and started walking back down the path. Since it didn't follow him, he figured it didn't have anything more to say. He found himself to be sluggish and tired. In his desperation to pick up the pace he'd drained his whole body. His stamina bar was barren. It was slowly going back up as he walked, but it would be a while before he could morph properly again. He felt helpless. The limits that the game was putting on him did not reflect what he felt was his true potential. He'd gotten stronger, quicker and smarter with age. He'd be twenty in less than a year! His improvement, his team, all of it made him feel like anything was possible.

Now he was here, feeling helpless and useless.

He trudged through the sunny woods, exhausted and frustrated. It wasn't until he'd tripped over a grey brick that he finally perked up. Before him was the next gate, huge and hulking, its shadow was about twenty more feet away, cooling the air around him down exponentially. On the gate was another carving, this time it was Robin and a great, grey mountain dragon. It's wings were sapphire and lapis lazuli and Robin's hero's cape was made of rubies. This was it, he knew it. Last time the gate opened almost immediately after he'd come to it. Beast Boy blinked up at the shining rocks and squinted a little bit. Starfire's had barely been there before it opened, but this one did not. Almost gratefully he rested against the gate, taking in the shade and boosting his stamina bar slowly. He frowned up at the wall of stone, tapping his foot. He glanced down at the hourglass and the numbers that were now newly written upon it.

 _ **08:43**_

"Please, Robin. Hurry."

...

"You wan't me to WHAT?" Robin cried into the static-y mirror. Raven had just contacted him, but her face was blurring in and out of frame. "STALL?"

"Yes, _stall_!" She cried in response. Robin smacked the mirror to get it to focus, like an old TV, and remarkably, it worked. "Beast Boy's stamina is at less than 10%, if you win now and the gate opens he'll die for sure! I've seen what's beyond the gate Robin. You HAVE to STALL!"

Robin's stats were dropping, too. His health was down but his stamina was up. Earlier he'd chosen to take a yellow potion, rather than a red one, adding speed and dexterity to his attacks. He'd figured at the time that a quick victory would save his life. Now he had to _stall_?

"Okay! Okay!" He snapped. "How long?"

"Ten minutes, tops." She responded.

His mask eyes were huge. "Are you freaking kidding me?!" Ten minutes making breakfast was whatever. Ten minutes for Starfire to get ready was just an illusion. Ten minutes in a battle?

Eternity.

In less than one minute you had the opportunity to live or to die, but in ten bad minutes the dragon could kill him four times, chew him up, spit him back out and then chew on him some more.

Just as he was about to ask for an alternative timeline, the dragon struck. Icy breath grazed Robin's cheek and he dropped the mirror, shattering it to pieces. Now he couldn't see Raven or his own stats. He tried not to scream, but instead focused the frustration on the dragon.

"Ten minutes. FINE. Alright, scaly it's YOU and ME." Robin grit his teeth while the dragon roared. A sound like icicles smashing into steel greeted him and Robin attacked.

He went for the tail again, keeping the thing on its toes. It spun to get a better look at the Boy Wonder, following the red hero's cloak as it scurried along the grey stones. The dragon lifted its tail and spun again and again, focusing only upon that red dot. Only to realize too late that it was falling.

The great mountain drake had to right itself, flailing its wings as it teetered off of the side of its home. It growled and roared, coming back to a defensive position only a little too late. Robin, in a split second, sliced its left hind leg in half, and down it went. Its teeth gnashed and prickled with icy ferocity. The wings were the worst, in Robin's opinion. Dodging ice was hard, but dodging wind was harder. He took the opportunity to relieve the drake of one of its wings while it was down.

It screamed and roared again, flailing helplessly on the rocks. Robin's stomach twisted in sick distaste. This was dishonorable, and cruel. He should have been given the drake the mercy of a quick death, even if this world was in his own head. He knew what Raven had said, and feared for his friend's life, so he waited.

And waited.

Finally, after ten minutes had passed, he nodded to the poor beast that lay in agony upon the mountain, and ended its suffering.

...

Cyborg was slumped against the tree on top of the cave. The night was growing weary on him, and the lion had not attacked in over five minutes. His nerves were shot, he kept waiting for it to pounce again. He hadn't spotted the white tuft of fur in a while, now fearing that the lion was just watching him; tormenting him. Cyborg had thought he would rest against the tree for a moment, but even though he sat there, he was not resting. He was going crazy. He heard the joints in his armor creak and twist a little when he got up from the tree. He doubted that there was oil or something in his bag, but looked anyway. It was then that he remembered all the tools in his arsenal. He'd been so happy with his big axe, he didn't even think about using spells or anything like that. He still didn't think about it, rather he figured that a berserker character couldn't have access to spells.

But there were traps, and bonuses.

He grinned reading through them. Any one of them could help him through this frustrating time, he didn't know which one to pick, though. He checked his stats. Barely any damage had been made to him during this game of literal cat and metal mouse. He was almost level 10 but his card-spending points were low. He'd never even spent any yet throughout the game, but his cap was a meagre 700 card points. He frowned down at the prices of his deck. Some were combos that, when combined, cost him almost all of his points. He started to get worried. What if he saved his butt here, but couldn't help out his team later? He still had his axe, he guessed, but that didn't mean it would get them out of a sorcerer's spell or a ghost's trap.

He hissed under his breath, the moonlight had flickered somewhere in the distance. He begrudgingly raised himself to his feet, heart thumping.

It could be anywhere. He thought. His anxiety grew with every second he stood here, flipping through cards, counting out points in his head. He'd been excited at first that they were perfect, and now he was thinking that not a single one of them were worth the cost.

He twisted and turned his neck, stashing the cards back in his bag, fearing now more than ever that the lion was right on top of him. In fact, just above him a slight rumbling echoed in the branches of the tree. He had only a second to think that there had been no possible way the lion could have climbed the tree without him noticing, before the great jungle cat launched itself from the branches with a feline scream.

This time, Cyborg wasn't fast enough to deflect the cat, and it managed to scrape a huge slice into his metal cheek. He blinked and stepped back, even though the metal parts of him shouldn't hurt, the mere slicing stunned him a bit. It was maybe a millisecond, but it was enough time for the lion to lunge in further, biting at his stomach, an area the animal expected to hold mushy organs and easily broken tissues, but it was wrong. Regardless of the armor Cyborg wore, the black lion was heavy and pinned him down. The claws scraped and tore at his metal body; it sounded like someone playing a violin with a butcher's knife. He clenched his teeth and tried to get under the beast somehow, hoping and praying that he could at the very least get it off of him long enough to run for it.

But it wasn't working.

Finally, he screamed, "Get off me you damn cat!" and punched it square in the nose.

The animal hissed and jumped away, patting at its own face before it disappeared again into the corn fields. Cyborg pulled out his mirror in his pack quickly, checking his health and stamina bars. It was dangerously low. His heart thumping, he pulled out a dark red potion that read: "Avalon Water, replenish to full health, reduce one-third of stamina". Checking his stats again, he frowned and realized that his reduction in stamina was more drastic than he thought when taking the potion. The armor weighed heavily on him, pulling him down to the ground. He was cat food now, he was sure of it. Regardless of the health that he'd replenished, he was a tank and needed that stamina to keep going. Cyborg hoisted his heavy body up on his axe, balancing on the strength of metal and wood, fearing for his own fate. He'd severely miscalculated the math for his stamina and the speed of his foe, the lion, and now scanned the cornfields with even more terror.

The lion knew it, too.

Instead of creeping out, stealthily like a cat should, the lion emerged proudly and dangerously, eyeing up its prey. It licked its sharp fangs and a rumbling in its throat and belly echoed in the dark arena. The moonlight showed the little white tuft of fur, and reflected those bright, hungry green eyes.

Cyborg lifted the axe a final time and met his foe head-on. A great screaming of cat and man shattered the peace of the arena and crows took flight.

They cawed into the darkness, but Cyborg was down. He couldn't move, the weight of the cat pinned him to the wet earth. Its teeth bit deeply into his armor, searching for a weak point until finally it lunged for his face.

Cyborg closed his eyes in terror, and then woke up on the floor of the Titan's kitchen.

* * *

 **Announcement!**

 **I'm hosting a poll on my profile page! It's at the top of the page, taking votes on what I should write a One-Shot about! If you're interested in a Teen Titans one-shot, or any other, go and check it out! You get one vote for the genre, and another for the universe!**


	14. Realization

Beast Boy clawed at the ground, trying to get himself back upright. His legs were being pulled, his body dragged unceremoniously backward on his stomach. The dust he was kicking up left a dirty taste in his mouth, and all the while he had to keep his eyes closed.

"Why-" spit. "Did it have to-" spit. "Be a snake lady?" He spit more dirt out of his mouth and felt a rock hit his adam's apple. He hissed in pain, trying not to swallow.

When Robin's gate was still closed, he'd fallen asleep for what felt like only ten minutes against that old oak tree. His stamina had raised exponentially and when he awoke to the sound of the gate opening, he was pumped and ready to go. He wasn't expecting the thing he was fighting to be a thirty foot long centipede demon, witch-looking gorgon! As soon as he'd saw her, he felt his left elbow become stone. He immediately closed his eyes and they'd been closed ever since.

Forget about searching for a good spell card or trap card. He was all alone with his animal hearing on this one. Now he was belly down on the battlefield, being dragged backward into what he could only assume were her waiting jaws.

The thought of being eaten by that ugly thing alone was enough to make his stomach turn.

So turn he did, onto his back. The flip and shift in weight made the monster lose her grip and he scurried backward as a scarab beetle, scurrying as far away as possible from the _witch-ipede_. He scarab-laughed at his own label for her, which really just sounded like soft clicking. He finally made it to some tall grass and became even smaller, a fly buzzing its way through dandelions. He was able to see at least, and hopefully she wouldn't be able to find his eyes when they were this small.

It was as a fly that he planned his attack.

A quick skip beside her and he was at her back. The buzzing he gave off distracted her, but he stayed out of sight. He dared not look at her face, but the rattling tail was what he was after. All at once he became a star-nosed mole and dug beneath the hissing snake woman. She slithered above him, and as a blind animal, his hearing was able to pick up where she was. When the opportunity arose, he morphed into a mongoose, and bit off the end of her tail.

The snake woman screamed, sounding like a pipe that was spitting steam and hot water. Beast Boy spit out the end of her tail and grabbed on again, staying attached. While her powers may allow her to blind him, she didn't have much in the way of attack. Knowing the statistical edge he had on her, he used his assassin ability and critical strike to weaken her. Finally, when he thought it was safe, Beast Boy returned to his human form and played the card: **Backstab**. He pulled his assassin's hood over his head and heard the monster screech. Then there was only silence.

He lowered his hood as slowly as possible, carefully examining the fallen monster. She was nothing but stone and ash, crackling on the ground. Beast Boy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew. That was nasty." He smiled a fang-y grin and pulled the hood off of his head. "Wish I didn't have to keep walking, though." He sighed and started going. He would get to the final boss battle, and Cyborg's gate would be waiting for him. He wondered what Cyborg was up against.

...

"Oh, no no no…" Cyborg took in the sight around him. The kitchen was littered with his friends. They were all slumped on the floor and over their forgotten game pieces. A dark dragon piece sat obnoxiously in the middle of the table, mocking him. He couldn't believe how much he had to use the bathroom, so he ran there first. After he returned to the kitchen he rushed to Starfire whose arm was twisted behind her as she slept. It was definitely going to be sore the next day. Once he laid her out on the couch he went to Raven next. She was burning up, shivering, her skin paler than ever. He could smell the sweat on her, and her eyes were tearing up from the sickness; crusty and swollen.

And it was all his fault.

He'd died in the game, it was all over! Beast Boy Couldn't win now! How were they going to get Raven home?

Cyborg rushed Raven off to the sick bay first, laying her down gently in one of the hospital beds there. He hooked her up to some IV's and ran a metal hand over her sweaty hair. Cyborg's heart beat quickly, worried that if they didn't get her out soon, she wouldn't recover well. She might have permanent damage in her head from the fever, an ear infection from swelling, maybe hearing damage. Untreated colds and flus were more dangerous than people thought, but Cyborg wasn't sure he or his equipment could help her any more than she could.

Usually she'd heal herself, but since her mind was trapped somewhere else, her powers were probably dormant. Malchior might even have turned them off or stopped them somehow. She was affected just like any other human would be. Cold, shivering, sweating and burning all at the same time. Cyborg's heart wasn't always worried, but sad for her. He bent down and touched her forehead with his.

"No worries, girl. We got this." He whispered. One of his two little sisters, always in trouble. "After this is over, I promise I'll always wake up when you need me. Yeah?" He sniffed a bit and covered her with a blanket, checked her stats and then gently shut the door.

Cyborg didn't wonder why he was alive instead of dead. He'd been lied to enough times by villains to stop being surprised by these things. It was all just a trick to keep them motivated. Instead, he picked up Robin and Beast Boy, laying them down with Starfire more comfortably than when they were slumped on the chairs and the floor. Now all three were comatose on the couch, and Cyborg just… didn't know where to go from there.

"I can't believe I lost to a big cat." He sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter. There had to be something he could do. Since he lost, his gate would never open for Beast Boy. What would they do then? He picked up an apple from the counter, chewing it worriedly. He thought about Raven, shivering and alone in her hospital bed. Why did it always seem like she ended up in a hospital bed? He tapped the counter beneath him, the sound echoing in the quiet room.

 _What am I going to do..._

...

Robin was surprised that he was still in the game. He wasn't sure what would have happened when he defeated the dragon (the old man had been pretty vague on that part), but he was determined to see where this path took him. A faster path down the mountain returned him to the forest and now he was running through a hidden deer trail through the trees. Suddenly, in the sky he saw something shoot past.

"Starfire? Starfire!" He called. The 'something' in the sky turned and shot toward him. He was crushed in an adorable bear hug.

"Robin!" She gushed. "You are unharmed!"

He smiled and hugged her back the best he could. "Yeah, I'm fine, Star."

"As am I!" She beamed. "I have brought forth a large winged rat!"

Robin cringed. "Um, what?"

The large bat that she summoned in the cave hung happily from the nearest pine. It chirped a little and fluffed its wings. Robin half smiled. "Oh, cool."

"Where is Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy?" Starfire asked. Robin smiled at her gorgeous green eyes.

"I don't know, Star. We should probably keep going." He pointed down the path.

Starfire nodded. "We should fly." She grabbed his hand gently. "Come with me?"

He smiled. "Always."

They found Beast Boy quicker than they thought. They found him running in human form toward a large gate in the distance. It cast a shadow in the fading sun, the rising moon glimmering an ominous red in the distance. Beast Boy didn't see them coming, but when they touched down in front of him he was thrilled.

"Dudes! Hey!"

And a little confused.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" He scrunched his face up in a puzzled expression.

Robin wasn't sure himself. "I don't know, you were supposed to finish these trials alone."

"I can, I _am_ …" Beast Boy bristled a little. He could do this himself, he didn't need any help. "I'm almost there, you guys don't have to be here."

Robin shook his head. "No, I mean you were _supposed_ to finish alone, but we're here...why are we here?"

Beast Boy looked at them. "Why the heck do you think that _I_ know?"

Starfire frowned. "Should we not continue to the next gate?"

The boys nodded and they all ran together. When they got to the gate they gazed up at the image of Cyborg wrestling with a great, midnight black lion with a white tuft of fur on its tail. They all gasped, Starfire covered her mouth in shock, when they all realized that the lion was biting Cyborg's throat.

"No…" Starfire whispered.

Beast Boy shook his head. "That doesn't mean anything, you know? It's just supposed to scare us…"

Robin ran a hand through his hair. "If it isn't, if it's real?"

Beast Boy shivered. "We lose…"

...

"Oh, dear." Malchior tapped his knight around a small chess board he was playing on the side of his armchair. Raven felt like knocking it over; he was acting like her friend's misery was boring him. "I didn't see that one coming."

Neither did she.

"He did his best." Raven whispered as Cyborg's piece faded from the game. His figure, the huge axe, glorious armor, all fading from their reality. She hoped, in her heart of hearts, that it wouldn't be the last she ever saw of him. "What happens now?"

"Now?" Malchior grinned at his chess game. "Now it's checkmate, my love. There's no way Beast Boy can win his battles if Cyborg lost his own. The gate won't open. The game is over." He tapped the pieces one last time and Raven could see from the couch that on his little board it really _was_ checkmate. Her heart skipped a beat in fear.

He was before her as soon as she blinked, pulling the white grimoire blanket from her body, releasing her. She felt nothing. No resurgence of magic; nothing. She was still powerless.

"Why did you release me? What...what happened to my power?" She flexed her fingers and shakily rose to her feet. "It isn't over, the _game is not over_." She growled at him. It couldn't be.

Malchior shrugged. He gave her a pitying look and put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. "I told you I'd be your shoulder to cry on when your little friends failed you. Here I am, love." He grinned, his face cracking, the horn in his head getting a matching partner with every passing minute. A little bit of purple was showing in his hair. The poor man's body he'd taken was being destroyed, along with her hopes.

"No, Beast Boy...h-he can still win." She felt herself starting to slur her words.

Malchior's fingers rubbed her shoulders gently, massaging the soreness of her skin. His green eyes were hypnotic. She didn't know if it was her sickness or his magic, but she was starting to get dizzy. Her newly stretched legs were getting woozy, her head making her sick to her stomach.

"Hold onto me, love. You're not well." Malchior pulled her into a cold embrace. On instinct or his magical manipulation over her, Raven felt herself pulling her arms around his waist and bringing him closer. He was strong, she hated to admit. His sheer power in the face of her own tapped reserves was daunting.

"M-my powers…" She whispered into his chest.

"Ah, about that," He began. "Unfortunately, per our deal and your friends' utter failures, I get to keep you. We'll go back to your world for your body, don't worry. For right now, though, your soul is mine. As is your power, your strength…" He tilted her chin up from his chest to meet his eyes. "And your mind." Slowly, but roughly, he kissed her.

Raven had once dreamed of kissing Malchior. Well, Rorek honestly. She'd seen his picture in the book, had dreamed of his lips, his hands on her. At one point in her younger years, it had been literally all she'd ever wanted. She'd imagined that he would whisk her away to a land of powerful spells, infinite wisdom and understanding. She'd imagined that when they finally kissed, she'd feel accepted. Home.

This was _not_ that. Not at all.

Raven had a home now, one that she loved more than anything. He was taking it from her, and she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't blame her friends, only herself. She blamed herself for being too weak to trap him, to confine him to that ancient tome. She hated how weak she was in this moment. The worst part of all? She had to let him kiss her, because she didn't have any feeling left in her arms or her legs.

"Sleepy, darling?" He asked, his breath cold and sharp on her mouth. "Rest. I'll take care of you, forever. I promise."

 _Forever?_ Raven thought, her head dimming, the world around her spinning. Malchior's reality was crumbling, the facade of the game turning back into a blank dimension. _Forever is a very long time_.


	15. Storming the Keep

**Hey, Song here!**

 **HAPPY JUNE!**

 **Thank you guys so much for waiting. I have to admit, this story has been a struggle to get out. I really like what I've done with this chapter, and hope you all do, too. We're nearing the ending of this story, so thank you all for your patience, follows, comments and reviews!**

 **Let's GO!**

* * *

Beast Boy tapped his foot repeatedly, much to Robin's irritation. The mirror in Starfire's bag wasn't complying, and he couldn't get a hold of Raven like he had before. She wasn't trying to contact him either, and it was worrying him.

"If we lost-"

"We did _not_ lose." Beast Boy bit out.

"IF!" Robin bit back. "We need to act fast."

"What do you mean?"

A low rumbling shook the trees in the distance. Birds took flight and then disappeared into nothing at all.

"I _mean_ , that Malchior is taking this world apart, and we're still in it." Robin finished.

Beast Boy blinked toward the disappearing world behind them and gulped. "Oh. Oh, good point."

"We should...run, yes?" Starfire asked.

"Run where?" Beast Boy accused. "Through the massive _wall_?" He gestured behind them.

Robin shivered a little. "If we can't get through, we'll disappear, too."

"I-I think you're right... Cyborg isn't here anymore…" Beast Boy choked out. His friend...his _best friend_ was gone.

They all stared up at their obstacle, fearful of what might happen.

"Then we have to get through this thing. Somehow." Robin stated.

Starfire stomped ahead of them furiously and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She held her hands out, palms out, charging a starbolt. Robin tried to make her stop.

"Wait, Star don't!" He was worried about her mana supply.

She didn't listen. "Go and find Raven!" When she spoke they realized she was holding a card in between her teeth. It read: **Apocalypse**. "I shall take this wall _down_."

"Starfire, no! It'll kill you!"

It was too late. Like a sonic blast that shook the world, one that even Malchior felt from his castle, Star's spell tore away at everything in its path. The beam was blinding, both Beast Boy and Robin saw stars as it lit up the world. A screaming pierced the sky and a mountain fell in the deep distance. The great and final stone gate collapsed into ashes, and Starfire disappeared, out of the game forever, in a green fizzle of light.

" _Starfire!"_ Robin cried, falling to his knees. First Cyborg and now the love of his life. Were they really dead? Could he have saved them.

"Come'on dude we gotta go!" Beast Boy had to pry him from the pathway, morphed into a horse and pull him along upon him, galloping toward the dark castle in the distance.

Where the wall used to be, a fizzled corpse of whatever boss Beast Boy had been supposed to fight lay smoking. Starfire had destroyed that as well. It was only a small hope of his that the blast had also fried Malchior like a lizard-on-a-stick. But then, Beast Boy remembered that Raven would have been hit also. He gulped a little, his powerful stallion form taking him faster and faster toward the castle. He had to hurry.

 _Hurry, hurry._

The thundering of hooves on gravel was all he could hear, until…

 _Hurry, Beast Boy. I don't feel...well._

Beast Boy's heart skipped a beat, almost tripping him on the dusty path. Raven's voice was in his head. She was getting closer, and she was reaching out to _him_. All he wanted in that moment was to see her, to hug her and hold her and to keep her safe. He had to help her, he had to _run._

…

Starfire awoke dazed and confused on the living room couch. Knowing better than to think it was all a dream, she reached over immediately and touched Robin's hair.

"You are unharmed." She whispered, happily. To know that they would recover in the Titan's tower, rather than die horribly in another world, was a relief. Now she knew that Cyborg must be close by.

In fact, he was eating at the table watching them when she awoke, and now he was rushing over to her, his arms outstretched to pull her in closely. She smiled at his hug. To others it would have been bone crushing, but to her it was the only hug strong enough that would envelope her and keep her steady. She nodded afterward.

"You _are_ home. I am glad."

Cyborg looked down at the floor, sheepishly. "I misplayed everything, I never should have lost. It's _all_ my fault." He sank down, leaning against the back of the couch. "I am so, so sorry."

It had been killing him ever since he lost, having to watch over his poor friends as they fought the good fight without him. He'd kicked himself for twenty minutes before he sat down and made a sandwich. It was good, too. He wasn't expecting Starfire to wake up alone.

"What happened? Star, ya gotta tell me, how's it going in there?" He gestured at Robin and Beast Boy.

"I thought I was sacrificing myself, though I have to admit I am glad that I did not have to. They are on their way to the castle now." She informed him. "I _know_ they will be victorious."

Cyborg tried not to apologize again, knowing there was nothing he could do now. "I know it, too."

Starfire gasped, "Oh! How is Raven?"

He took her to the sick bay, commenting that her condition was worsening.

"Will she not recover?"

"Not without her powers back, and certainly not with all the meds I'm pumping into her. They'll only hold her for so long, but soon they'll hurt her rather than help. She needs to recover on her own, but she can't do that if she's not eating."

Starfire nodded. "Then we wait for victory."

Cyborg gulped a little, fighting back emotions he didn't want Star to see. One little sister safe. The other?

Suffering.

"Yeah... we just keep waiting."

…

A large wrought iron gate came into view, so Beast Boy morphed out of his horse form. They both jogged the rest of the way, allowing Beast Boy to recover his morphing stamina for the fight to come. When they approached the property, the Castle looked bigger than they'd ever thought. Why Malchior needed to create such a massive structure for one little game was beyond them. He probably wasn't even using it all. In fact, only a small light glowed from a little tower window above a black balcony. Beast Boy sniffed the air for signs of enemies, but all was silent.

Robin commented that maybe they should do a perimeter check, make a plan, but Beast Boy gestured at the disappearing landscape behind them and thought that maybe they shouldn't. Agreeing for Robin was hard. They only had one shot at this, and since the game had technically ended (even with Starfire blasting away the final boss), they needed to convince Malchior to keep playing. If they had came up with a sturdy plan beforehand, then Robin wouldn't have had the feeling impending doom rotting in his gut when they passed quietly through the gates.

A light rain started to patter on the stones in the courtyard of the castle. Large gargoyles looked as if they were drooling down the walls when the rain overflowed them. Beast Boy shivered, thinking that this place vaguely reminded him of a video game he'd played once. All at once he was thinking that Malchior was pathetic from ripping of the Legend of Zelda, and worried that the boss battle would be just as difficult…

"Beast Boy," Robin whispered. "Look."

Above them on the same balcony with a spiked railing was Malchior, his arms crossed and looking just the littlest bit pissed.

"What. Are. You. _Doing here_?" He accused them, his voice echoing off of the stones of the courtyard.

Beast Boy bristled, not intimidated. "We're here to take you down."

"Lovely." he answered, almost spitting the word out.

Robin squinted in the rain, trying to peer into the windows behind Malchior.

"It _is_ lovely." Beast Boy taunted. "Wanna go for a little walk in the park?" He hissed through his sharp fangs.

Malchior pretended to look at his claws. "No, I don't think so."

"Where's Raven?" Robin finally asked, shivering a little both from the rain and his own fears.

Malchior looked up for a fraction of an instant, meeting the Boy Wonder's masked eyes with his own green ones. "Nowhere, I assure you."

"Nowhere?"

"Yes."

Beast Boy growled. "Don't play games with us, dude."

"Oh?" Malchior raised a brow. "I thought that that was precisely what I was doing this whole time. Are you always this dense? Raven said you'd gotten dumber with age."

"That's a lie!" Beast Boy shot back. "She'd never say that."

Malchior opened his arms as if to say 'ask her yourself'. "How would you know?"

"I know."

"Do you?"

Robin was getting frustrated. "Is she alright?"

Malchior grinned sadistically. "Fading fast, actually. I don't know how much longer our Sweet Raven has before she's withered into nothing. You should leave so that I may care for her...properly." He shot a poisoned look at Beast Boy.

"What's that supposed to mean, dragon face?" Beast Boy shot back angrily. His hair was fluffing up, like fur standing on end, and Robin could almost hear him grinding his fangs.

"Only that you've never been able to give my poor love the real attention and care she deserves. Your little team is stunting her growth. How dare you poison her the way that you have, preventing her from reaching her full potential."

Beast Boy's face was contorting even more into the picture of rage.

As leader, there comes a time in every man's life when you have to decide between two things. Your team, and the mission. Robin felt as if this was one of those times, and right now, Beast Boy's feelings (though he didn't want to admit them to anyone or even to himself) was putting them both in jeopardy. Robin grabbed Beast Boy by the arm and pulled him aside.

"Stop. Now." He commanded, using his best 'leader' tone of voice. "We need to find Raven and leave this place. Not taunt the angry villain. You need to keep your cool, and show me that you're the hero I've seen you become."

In this delicate, almost fatal situation, Robin knew that Beast Boy would comply. He watched him glance up past Robin's shoulder at the man sitting smugly on the balcony. He'd love to knock him right off of it. Robin could see the darkness in Beast Boy's green eyes and waited, hoping he would make the right choice.

Finally, and with great reluctance, Beast Boy nodded, took Robin's hand in a firm grip and then whispered, "Find her for me." Then he pushed past his friend and became a large eagle, flying straight for Malchior's head.

Robin glanced down at the frayed card in his hand, **Dust**. Beast Boy would be his distraction, then.

He used the card as soon as Malchior came face to feathers with Beast Boy's eagle. As soon as he invoked its power, Robin could no longer see his own limbs. He was invisible, and he needed to act fast.

Beast Boy knew when Robin disappeared and in that moment morphed back into a human form, using the card: **Enchant**. Suddenly the wrought iron spikes on the balcony came a live, poking and slicing at Malchior's human form. The dragon hissed, spitting smoke and slicing through the iron with his claws. Behind him, Beast Boy raced over the rooftops, leading Malchior away from the light glow of the tower window. The game was right to give him an assassin role, but they also should have known what a great distraction Beast Boy was. The dark dragon followed him, angrily clawing at his own skin. Beast Boy realized, only a few seconds later, that he was trying to free himself from his human form.

When Beast Boy morphed, the action was almost instantaneous; one blink and you'll miss it. It was quick and practical in split-second moments. Malchior's method of morphing was long, bloody and horrifying. Beast Boy elected to turn around and keep running on the rooftop, rather than watch the macabre experience.

When a great, horrible roar echoed in the rain behind him, Beast Boy knew he had completed his transformation. But the roar shook the shingles he was balancing on, and the rain made them slippery. He felt his left ankle go out from under him and Beast Boy found himself barrel-rolling down toward the ground.

Again, Beast Boy's powers were very practical. Just as he cleared the roof and was careening down, the dragon took flight, and so did he. In the last second, Malchior dove, just as Beast Boy soared high. They missed by a few inches, and the dragon skidded into the cobblestones of the courtyard, ripping them from the mud. He spit green fire in all directions, hoping to hit his smaller opponent. Beast Boy was _super_ small this time, a blurry hummingbird that flitted around the eyes of the dragon (which were huge to him). Malchior's dark pupils became furious slits, following the hummingbirds's movements like a massive hunting cat.

Barely above the dragon's head was Robin, invisible and clutching a gargoyle's head, getting splattered with water. Beast Boy must have seen the odd way the water was falling down the roof and took action, now so small that Malchior had to really, really focus on him. He hoped that this small error in climbing path wouldn't get him or both of them killed. He knew he should have taken the other windowsill, but thought hopping from gargoyle to gargoyle would be faster. Instead, it was wet and loud, making the journey upward even worse. The card in his pocket beeped steadily, like a heart monitor in the sick bay at the tower. It was letting him know that he still had time before the effects were up, but his character's incompatibility with assassin powers gave him way less time than Beast Boy would have had.

He kept climbing.

Behind him, an elephant fell from the sky, intent on landing on the dragon's head. It slithered away with startling speed, instead shooting off fireballs of green. They hissed through the rainstorm and barely missed a green cheetah that raced along the grass. Beast Boy's heart was beating faster than he was running, and he worried about how many more morphs he would get before he ran out. Returning to human form would help refill his bar, so he raced behind a stone wall in the gardens of the castle, returned to normal and used the card **Scythe**. It was a magical assassin's weapon that could only be summoned by a card. It's long black staff was thin, but it held onto the massive, curved blade at the end. Just as the dragon soared over the wall, Beast Boy raised the scythe to scrape at its back leg. He missed, but felt it cut deep into Malchior's tail. The great thing about Scythe was that it also poisoned its enemies.

The dragon screamed, losing its original flight pattern and instead hitting the hedgerows and ripping them from the earth. The dragon, now pissed as all Hell, lit the whole garden on fire. Beast Boy blinked at the heat, pulling his hood over his head and wondering why the rain wasn't preventing the flames. Sure, it made everything slippery, but the minute Malchior wanted to set something on fire it was totally fine? Beast Boy grumbled as he dodged more fireballs, skidding in the mud and falling to one knee. He just had time to turn around and swipe at Malchior's open jaws, nicking his tongue a little bit. The tongue sizzled with the magic poison, and Malchior retreated back a bit, giving Beast Boy enough time to scurry along the path again, now disappearing in a cloud of smoke, allowing himself to teleport ten feet in any direction. He caught his breath as the dragon pawed at its face, screaming in pain. Malchior roared at Beast Boy, wherever he was, and began hunting him all over again.

Beast Boy took this time to check his stats. He was practically out of card points, barely had any morphs left if he didn't rest for at least five to ten minutes, and his health was at half.

All in all? Dismal.

Robin, faring a lot better in stats, was not faring better with climbing this damn castle. He was already exhausted from the mountain, and with barely any resting time in between, he was sick and tired of climbing things that just didn't want to be climbed. But he persevered, and finally made it to the roof that was just over six feet and to the left below the balcony that Malchior had been boasting from not a few minutes earlier. He thought briefly about his own height, finally he'd stopped growing at 5'10'', but it was still too short to reach the balcony without making just a bit of a jump. He could actually feel the rain swirling around his boots and just prayed that it wasn't going to be like the rest of the journey up this damn castle.

He went for it, his gloved hands reaching out for the nearest spiked railing and caught it. Now his legs were swinging over empty space and he knew that his grip would loosen if he didn't act fast in this downpour. Robin grit his teeth and swung up, his perfect form just barely slipping on the edge of the balcony. He caught his footing and stuck the landing, albeit a little loudly. The dragon Malchior was far too preoccupied with his green prey to notice, but Robin could hear the quiet beeping of his spell card catching up to him.

 _I'm running out of time_.

He ran to the windowed door, cupping his invisible hands to peer through the glass, but of course that didn't work. Instead he set to work on the locks. Not expecting it to work, Robin jiggled the handle to get an idea of what he was working with. Much to his astonishment, it opened, and inside Robin heard a faint thumping coming from within. Now that he had access to the castle, and possibly to Raven, Robin stopped for just a moment to look back and see how Beast Boy was doing.

"Oh, no."

Malchior was closing in, poor Beast Boy had been backed into a corner at the edge of the courtyard. It looked like he had tried to make a quick run around the far side of the castle, taking Malchior even farther from the window and Raven. Instead, Malchior had swept his massive, bleeding tail up against him, pinning him and his scythe to the stonework. With an echoing, cackling laugh, Malchior seized the scythe in his jaws and held it close to Beast Boy's neck. The tip was mere inches from the green Titan's throat, and he tried really hard not to gulp or shout expletives at the purple monstrosity before him.

"Careful," Malchior hissed. "You don't want to cut yourself, do you?" His tail pushed Beast Boy harder up against the castle wall. A jagged stone was pressing into his spine, but Beast Boy wouldn't give him the satisfaction of a grimace.

Instead, his face was calm and stone cold. He was killing time.

Robin fought the urge to go back. By Beast Boy's expression, he guessed that his friend would rather that Robin continue the mission. He trusted that Beast Boy knew what he was doing, and raced down the hall of the castle. It was dark and cold. _Raven's been stuck in_ here _?_ Robin thought to himself. No wonder she had looked so sick in the mirror. He followed the sound of thumping. He hoped it was Raven trying to tell him something and not some monster in disguise waiting for him. He finally made it down the hall and found an ornately carved door. It showed a picture of black roses made of iron that surrounded a wooden castle. He tried the door again, but this time it was assuredly locked. He didn't really think it would be that easy, but nothing was as it seemed here. Without lock picks, he knew what he had to do.

Back in the courtyard, Malchior inched the blade even closer to Beast Boy.

"Go on, say something. A word of defiance? A confession of love and heroism?"

Beast Boy remained stone-faced, albeit a little flushed. Bored with taunting his meager prey, the great dragon finally made contact with Beast Boy's skin, scraping it down his collarbone and through the top of his shirt. Beast Boy finally screamed, feeling the skin bubble from the poison. It would travel a lot faster through him than through the dragon. He bit out the expletives he'd been holding onto, and slammed back into the stones in pain.

"I know it hurts, but it's time you knew the truth." Malchior taunted, enjoying the revenge. "You can play games and dress up. You can pretend you're rescuing your great damsel in distress, but I'm sorry..."

Robin played a lock picking spell card called, **Turn**. The door finally swung open and inside revealed...

Nothing.

Robin felt icy dread run through his veins. He stepped quietly into an empty room with a cold, dead fireplace.

Malchior smiled. "Your princess is in another castle."

* * *

 **Another tormenting cliffhanger! I know, I suck. Don't worry, only two more chapters, guys!**

 **(By the Way, I had to google Nightwing's Height for this chapter, since I aged them all a few years).**


	16. As Rain Falls, So Do I

**Hey there!**

 **How can I have let almost a month pass without posting? Well, honestly I've been working hard, interviewed for a second job...and have had some personal issues. Still, I have written this chapter with great excitement! The ending is my favorite ;) I hope you enjoy. Only one chapter to go!**

 **-Song**

* * *

"Another castle?" _Was he serious?!_

If he weren't being crushed into the stonework, Beast Boy would have flipped Malchior off for such a ripped off video-game reference. How dare he. How _dare_ he!

The dragon's laugh was loud and echoed, like clanking metal in a hot mine. The more it echoed, the more Beast Boy felt mocked. All he wanted was to morph into a green version of what Malchior was. Bigger, stronger, faster. All that just to take him down for not only taking Raven, but torturing her, manipulating her, and now _hiding_ her. Like a coward.

"Yes. Another castle." Malchior answered, slicing the bubbling scythe over Beast Boy's cheek this time. It would leave a scar, he knew.

"I'm going to take you down." Beast Boy promised.

"I'm sure you're _not_ , little boy." He refuted. "Big words for such a small thing. Really, I don't know why Raven even thought that _you,_ of all people, would be the one to rescue her."

Beast Boy's ears pricked up, his heart quickened.

Malchior's gaze finally broke away from Beast Boy's, instead gazing longingly up at the tower above. All he wanted was to hurt this stupid, lovesick whelp before him. Badly

"As if she didn't have other stronger, _better_ friends coming to get her. All I have heard through this game is 'Beast Boy will come save me'. 'Beast Boy will stop you'. Well…" Malchior finished. "I guess even my little Raven can be wrong sometimes."

The huge, purple tail added pressure, now preventing Beast Boy from even catching his breath. The jagged stone behind him broke through his chain mail. He heard it snap.

It was now...or absolutely never.

"No," Beast Boy bit out between shallow breaths. "Raven is never wrong."

With what he assumed was the last of his stamina bar, Beast Boy became the largest predator ever to walk the earth. A spinosaurus. Weighing 20 tons and measuring almost 50 feet, he was nine feet longer than the largest T. Rex ever known, larger than he'd ever been. Beast Boy had never needed this form before. Never thought it necessary, and definitely saw it as a threat to his friends in a battle. Especially since it was, at this moment, putting his human mind in the backseat, and drove his body with an animal blood lust that nothing else ever had before. Even his beast form. Thankfully, the poison would spread slower now. Beast Boy threw back Malchior and roared.

It was a screaming roar that shook the whole castle. Robin's teeth chattered, his ears ringing, as if he were standing in front of a huge stereo pumping a shrill, base beat throughout his body. His human instincts trembled, his skin getting goosebumps and his hair tingling, the way that prey feels when a predator is nearby. He raced out of the empty, disappointing room and to the window. It was like a scene from _Jurassic Park_. Two huge lizards battling it out, destroying everything in its path. Malchior was just a little smaller now, and Robin was thankful for that. But he also knew it would make Beast Boy slower.

"He needs my help." Robin thought aloud, pulling his sword from its sheath and getting ready to jump from the balcony, but then, behind him came that thumping noise again.

 _What?_ He thought, turning just a little. He waited for half a second, now thinking that the castle was magic and taunting him. Just as he was about to leave again, he heard it.

 _Thump. Thump…THUMP!_

Robin turned on his heel, racing back toward the room. Maybe he'd missed something. Was the empty room an illusion?

He entered the room again, sneezing at the dust that coagulated in the air above him. He coughed a bit and covered his face, as the further he entered the room, the thicker it got. The empty room was bigger than he thought at first, empty shelving where books should be lined the walls. He ran a finger over them. A thick layer of dust collected on his gloved hand. There was no way _anyone_ , even Malchior, had lived in this place for years. He shook his head, now officially convinced he'd gone insane.

 _Thump!_

There it was again! Robin spun around, sword in hand and on the wall was a painting. He raised an eyebrow at it. _So what? It's just a painting_. It looked just like the castle he stood in now, except with a sunny sky, bright and warm. Lush forests grew around it, flowers blooming everywhere. The stone was a creamy color, rather than a dark grey. The roof was white and the whole thing looked as though it were made of ivory, rather than coal like this one. He peered closer, looking at the same tower and window that he was standing in now. Rose vines grew around it in the painting, the start white and red made for an appealing scene. Just as he was about to turn around, Robin saw something move in the window.

"What?" He whispered to himself, peering closer and closer...until he fell through.

…

Raven pounded on the wall where Malchior had gone through. How had she been so stupid? Of course the painting was a portal. When he'd finally left her, it took all her strength to pull herself up off of the couch and crawl to where he'd disappeared. She tried to see anything in the painting, but she couldn't see past the grey fog that surrounded the castle. She knocked gently, cautiously, then louder. Louder. Then she was pounding on the painting, hating the coal-grey look of it, the thunder clouds that hung heavily overhead. She screamed at it, bringing tears to her eyes with the strain. She was trapped, he _left_ her here. Her body was somewhere, rotting away while her mind was stuck here in this goddamn red room. The roaring fire didn't affect her anymore. Now she was alone, and now she was just cold.

Just as she was about to give up, curled in a ball at the bottom of the painting, someone _did_ come through the wall.

It wasn't Malchior, instead a hooded hero fell through, falling right on top of her. Her first instinct was that it was Beast Boy, and without thinking she crushed him into a hug and started bawling. She didn't care what he thought, he'd never seen her like this before, but she didn't care. She'd never let go if she didn't have to.

"Raven? Are you alright?" It was Robin.

Relief rushed through her, still sobbing. She even laughed a little bit. Robin had already seen her like this once, and maybe she _did_ care what Beast Boy thought after all. She hugged Robin harder. "Hey."

He took his gloves off and put a hand on her head, feeling the sweat in her hair and put his forehead to hers. How can someone be both clammy and on fire? "I'm getting you out of here." He promised.

"I know." She sighed against him in relief. Her favorite 'brother' was here; she'd be fine. Still, Raven couldn't help but whisper, "Where is Beast Boy...is he?"

"He's fine, though...we lost Cyborg. And...Star."

She shook her head. "No, they're fine, I promise. Back at the tower."

Robin's heart almost exploded in relief. He'd been swallowing that hope since Starfire disappeared into a green haze. He knew what Malchior had said in the beginning, about the rules if they died, but Beast Boy had been right before about him being a lying cheat. Now he was more determined than ever to leave and be by her side again. "Okay, then let's go see them."

Raven nodded at the painting. "Lead the way." Her legs wobbled as he helped her stand. Instead he just scooped her up, thinking it would be easier. She felt nauseous with the movement, insisting that she could handle it herself, but in the end she let him. There was no way she was getting out of here by her own power.

Robin gently passed them back through the portal and into the dusty, drafty room.

…

Beast Boy was winning.

He thought.

When it seemed like Malchior was slowing, he figured that the poison was finally getting to his enemy. But, it was getting to him, too. All he needed to do was wait out the clock, make it long enough to win. Longer than Malchior, but his clock only had a little bit more time than Malchior's and it scared him. He hoped that Robin had found Raven and that, by beating this snapping, roaring thing before him, would set them all free, but so far there was no sign of either of his friends.

 _He'll get her, she'll be alright…_

His human mind was struggling to show through while his teeth and claws raked across the dragon's skin. The thought of Raven and Robin kept him grounded, but when he thought about himself he just went crazy. He felt alive, dark, dangerous. He felt huge and powerful, ready to take on anything.

The problem was, Malchior knew what that feeling was like. He'd felt it all his life, a powerful being capable of anything and everything. He was far better equipped to use that feeling and power to his advantage. With a burst of dark energy, Malchior's quicker dragon form snaked underneath Beast Boy's massive spinosaurus, its teeth gnawing at Beast Boy's back left leg. He cried out in pain, a horrible snarling sound that shook the courtyard to its bones. He tried to get his teeth into Malchior as well, but the dragon was still too fast. It clawed onto the spinosaurus' back and kept biting. Beast Boy tried whipping back and forth, but the movement was making him sick to his stomach. He'd have to morph back eventually, but he feared the poison would overtake him.

 _Please, Robin._ He thought. _Hurry I can't do this anymore-_

He could smell them before he saw them. Could smell her.

 _Raven_ …

From the deep darkness in his mind, the cloudy poison, he heard: _I'm here_.

 _You're here._

 _I am_. She replied.

 _You are._ He roared, renewed with energy. _Let's do this_.

Malchior wasn't prepared for the onslaught of force from Beast Boy. He was thrown from the spines on the other monster's back. He didn't understand where the energy and the fight was coming from. Couldn't fathom the fact that he was losing the final battle. Until he smelled her.

Of course.

Of course his enemy would smell her, take it into his heart and use it to fight with full force. Of course he did, but Malchior felt that Beast Boy had no right. He lashed out in fury, repulsed by the quickening of Beast Boy's heartbeat. It was the love he could feel in Raven's teammates. Different love for each, one family, one more, and it enraged him further. His misstep was fatal, he played his hand wrong. He got bit.

Hard.

Beast Boy's teeth sunk into his neck deeply, unforgiving. The blood lust of his massive form was eating away at the human reason, the morality. Malchior's dragon tail whipped in the muddy dirt from the rain, spasms and twitching. He felt his consciousness in this reality fading, his mouth gaping open, as if he were howling at the storm above him. He hoped that his other consciousnesses and dimensions would save his full life, but a small part of him was afraid.

Terrified.

The last thing he saw before he faded was Raven, cradled in the arms of her leader, clinging to consciousness as well, fading from her disease in this world. Her violet eyes stared into his very soul. His heart nearly burst when he realized that her expression was almost sad. She may be pitying him, but her heart was also reaching out to him through her beautiful eyes. His love. His kindred spirit.

If he lived, that was it. He was done.

It was in this moment, near death, where he realized his error. He had been a fool. For all his age and wisdom and magic, he was a fool. A fool, because he was truly, hopelessly in love. But she did not want, nor need him or his powers. She was better without him, happier. More complete. He'd never tear her apart again, not if he could help it.

As he watched her, and the final thoughts faded from his mind, he heard her. It pained him that his voice was so gentle and weak, knowing that at full power she should be a force to be reckoned with.

With his and her last bit of strength, she whispered, "Please, Malchior, find some sort of peace. Maybe then, I can, too." He watched her eyes close and saw her collapse against her friend. He convulsed one last time, and closed his as well.

Beast Boy and Robin watched Malchior disappear into a dust of black and purple, fading into the blackening sky as the world around them crumbled into pieces.


	17. We Go From Here

**Hey guys!**

 **It's finally here, the final chapter of "Game Content"! After two laptops died on me, I changed houses and went to Florida to see the grandparents, this story is _finally_ complete! Part of me doesn't want to see these versions of the characters go, so watch out for the future as I'm going to be posting some one-shots of the Titans in this same sort of universe!**

 **As always I want to thank every viewer, commentor, reader and supporter of this story. It was long and crazy but I loved making it and I love all of you! Thanks for sticking by me through all the waiting and the forming of plots and development. You all kept me going and I'll never forget that.**

 **Without further ado, the epilogue to "Game Content!**

 **-Song**

* * *

Cyborg brooded in the sick bay. He sighed over his friends' forms, ones that he had removed from the sticky couch and laid out gently over some cots in the quiet, beeping room. Starfire had long gone off to deal with a minimal bank heist in Jump City. He tried to go with her but she had insisted that he was better at keeping an eye on their friends' health than she was, and she preferred to "remove steam" from her system.

He'd regrettably agreed and let her go, but warning her that he would be keeping an eye on her in case something went awry. She didn't know what 'awry' meant, but through context clues she got the gist and just nodded, flying out the sick bay window and disappearing into the distant skyscrapers. Now that she knew that it was possible to return from that universe upon 'death', her concern had relaxed a little bit and allowed her to work. Cyborg, on the other hand, was not so sure. Just because they 'died' earlier in the game and came back, didn't mean that _losing_ the game would have the same result. Cyborg's hands shook as he sat there. He was wrought with guilt.

"I'm so sorry…" He whispered into the quiet beeping room. "It's my fault, I messed up." Had he not taken the game seriously enough? Could he have done the math a little better? Cyborg knew that there was no way he, the tank of the team, would have made it against a stealth/assassin character like the lion he'd fought, but part of him wanted to blame himself, rather than the game mechanics. Part of him _needed_ someone to blame, even if it was him.

He sighed a little louder, choking a little bit on his own sorrows. The beeping was starting to get to him, and just as he jumped up from the chair, knocking it over in frustration and anger, he heard it.

"Shh…" Beast Boy hissed from his bed. "Headache…"

Cyborg stood over his knocked over the chair in incredulity. He choked on some words that would have been expletives if he'd gotten them out, but instead he cleared his throat and smiled. They were okay, they were fine!

They were finally back home with him. "Oh, sorry, dude."

Filled to the brim with relief, he quietly checked everyone's vitals, especially Raven's, and then tried to wake her. She was burning up, sweating horribly and had a dry mouth like the Sahara Desert, but her eyes cracked open to stare at her second big brother and shed a few tears of discomfort and sickness. His heart broke for her, and he bent down and pet her hair gently.

"You're okay now, I promise." He assured her. She swallowed thickly and tried to nod but her head felt like it was made of pressurized air. Cyborg suggested she drink some water and get some more sleep, helping her take a few sips from a sterile cup and then readjust her heavy head.

Cyborg left the sick bay. When the door closed behind him he leaned against it and placed a hand over his face. They weren't shaking anymore, but instead, his whole body now shook with quiet sobs of relief.

...

"You're doing it wrong." Robin smiled over Beast Boy's shoulder.

Beast Boy growled in frustration. "No I'm not!" He struggled a little bit more with the fabric before giving up and letting Robin take over. "I just wanted it to be nice…"

Robin chuckled and showed Beast Boy how to properly sew something together. "It will be." He assured his friend. Robin then raised himself gingerly from his seat-still sore from earlier-and went to join Starfire outside for some real sunshine.

Beast Boy snapped the thread in between his teeth and started over, using the technique Robin had showed him. While it wasn't perfect, like the Boy Wonder's, it would do for what he was trying to accomplish.

What was he trying to accomplish?

It was an indigo and black blanket that had in its very center a dash of red fabric. It was supposed to be warm and cozy, representing Raven and to be used during her recovery. He could already foresee her scoffing at it and rolling her eyes, but he was determined to finish it and present it to her anyway.

Cyborg sat across from him and pushed cereal around in his bowl, never taking his eyes from his friend. His scrutinizing eyes. "So...how's it goin'?" He poked.

Beast Boy shot him a look. "Stop."

"What?"

"Stop... I don't know, making that face at me." Beast Boy jabbed himself with the needle on accident and yipped like a puppy. "See what you made me do?!"

Cyborg 'pfft' and kept pushing the cereal around, this time focusing down at it. It was soggy and purple by now from the marshmellows. He just wasn't as interested in the food as he was in his friend's emotional state right now.

"You're not even eating it." Beast Boy hissed. "It's starting to get irritating, dude."

"Tell me what this is about." Cyborg pointed his spoon at the blanket.

Beast Boy threw the blanket and needle down. "It's just a blanket!"

Cyborg wasn't convinced. Ever since they'd woken up from their nightmare-game, Beast Boy had been secretly (or not-so-secretly) pacing the recovery ward of the Tower, sleeping less and working on this weird home-sewn project for Raven. A project that was nearing completion until Robin suggested he start over from his last checkpoint. Now that he was doing it properly, it was starting to actually look like one. The beginning of it was trash, but the middle and end were shaping up well.

Still, the symbolism of the project was, well, very heartfelt. A little too-much-so for his green friend's usual displays of affection (which were a lot more annoying).

"Is it?"

"No!" Beast Boy stood up, accidentally knocking over the chair. He cringed at the noise and blushed, embarrassed. "N-no, it's not - I…"

The spoon was set gently down on the table, dribbling milk on the surface. In concern, and a little more irritation, Beast Boy inched his blanket safely away from the spoon and bowl.

"Dude, I didn't realize-."

"No, it's okay I just…" Beast Boy righted the chair but didn't sit down. "I just have a lot happening right now." He gestured to his whole body.

Cyborg gave him a suspicious look.

"No! Not _that_ kind of 'happening'!" Beast Boy blushed and sat down. "I meant more like my...chest happenings."

"You mean 'heart' happenings?"

"Shut _up_ , man." Beast Boy rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny the beatings in his chest. "No it's, I mean maybe it's…Just stuff."

Cyborg cleared his throat. He didn't see any of _this_ coming. He'd just worried that maybe his friend was going a little overboard and that he'd have to reassure him that Raven would be fine and wasn't dying or anything. Now he was thinking that it was a whole lot more. Suddenly he wasn't sure he wanted to push Beast Boy into talking about it, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"So...this stuff?" He smirked, thinking he was getting the picture by Beast Boy's expressions.

Beast Boy shook his head. "Forget it."

Cyborg squinted at him, making Beast Boy squirm. Finally, the metal Titan shrugged. "Man, you can't just bury this six feet deep and tell me to forget about it! Honestly, I thought that when this day finally came again, I'd be the first guy you'd talk to. I'm kinda hurt."

Beast Boy put his head in his hands and groaned. "What day? What are you talking about?"

Cyborg smiled and picked up the bowl and spoon, rising quietly from his chair. "The day you fell in love again."

Beast Boy's head whipped up and he watched Cyborg walk away with incredulity. _Love?_

The sound of rushing water and a bowl being washed echoed in Beast Boy's ears as he stared into space. He'd been in love once.

 _Tara…_ He thought to himself.

Definitely, at one time did he feel those things that he'd only read about in manga comics and played out in video games, but he'd never thought those feelings would...well, feel like they'd had. With Tara it was fun and spontaneous! It had been heart-pounding and enticing, like a livewire in a puddle. Electrifying; exciting!

But, now that he thought about it, it was all puppy love. This didn't feel anything like that.

What Cyborg was passing off as the same kind of 'love' he'd felt before for Tara was nothing like what he was feeling now. What he was mostly feeling was concern. Something deep down in his body was practically attached to Raven's lifeless form right now as it lay broken and ill. He needed to help her, in any way that he could. He needed to be near her, and matter to her. He wanted her to depend on him, and wanted her to need to be near him, too. Most of all, he wanted to make her happy.

Which is why he was currently pricking his fingers into complete uselessness for this blanket. For her.

He picked at his hands and the little bits of skin that were peeling from the needle bites. He guessed that he felt love for all the members of his team. Starfire was like his big sister, Cyborg was his best friend of all time and Robin his inspiration, someone to look up to. Raven was…

 _That's just it… I don't know anymore_.

She used to be this uncertainty in his life. All through those early years, he thought that he constantly needed to impress her and to gain her favor. He truly felt like she hated him or at best tolerated him. Every day it hurt more and more that they were nothing more to each other but people who worked together.

Maybe because of this he'd over-compensated a bit by being the most obnoxious thing that ever came her way, and yeah when she refused to hang out with him every _single_ time he asked, Beast Boy would get a little defensive. He remembered the time they first had to deal with Malchior, calling her "creepy" of all things, except that she was anything but. It was just a way to wound her after all the times he'd gone out on a limb to approach her and she'd shot him down. He'd instantly regretted it for years. Then she'd gone through all she'd had with her father and he'd realized that no matter what they were to each other, to him she was still family. The one that was always making jokes and teasing you incessantly, but was still family.

He was tired of approaching her with no progress, yeah, when he gave her his lucky penny and a smile, he'd decided that he'd _never_ give up on their relationship. That's what you do for family.

The crazy thing was, it worked.

Once Trigon was gone, she'd become someone completely different. Blue may still have been her favorite color and she still thought Beast Boy wasn't funny, but she'd changed. In Beast Boy's opinion, for the better. Without having to harness all her energy to not feel everyone's feelings, she'd let more of her own out. Her teasing was more loving, her actions more caring. She'd even gone out with Starfire once a month to the mall, and then once a week. She'd started braiding Star's hair absently while she levitated a book to read, and she'd played chess with Robin on rainy days. For some reason she liked working with Cyborg's car, messing with mechanical books and getting oily and dirty whenever he was out there. It started over something to do with helping him on a private "car mission" that the both of them had never seemed to fully explain. She was even in the process of building her own parts! For what? He had no idea, but it was a way for her and Cyborg to bond.

Through all these changes Beast Boy was overjoyed to see her in a whole new light, free from her destiny and her father. Free from pushing everything down into the deep darkness to squash her demonic powers. Free from being unfeeling.

The only thing that made him sad was that _they_ still hadn't really bonded. And Beast Boy had tried _everything_. Video games, anime, food, flavors of gum, one-time camping (she did _not_ like that one, but neither did the rest of the team), sports and finally movies!

The night before she'd gotten sick, before they'd been sucked into the game he'd been ecstatic that she'd stayed for the movie. He'd asked her if she liked it, maybe one too many times, hoping she'd get into the specifics of the plot or direction or dialogue, but she'd been tired and brushed him off _again_. The board game he brought home from the craft's market was his last chance at finding something in common with her, and she'd seemed to like it. Until, of course, it was hijacked by her worst nightmare.

 _Why don't_ we _have a thing?_ He wondered, sadly. Just because he desperately wanted to bond with her, didn't make it love. Right?

Beast Boy finally came back to his senses when Cyborg resumed his seat across from him at the table. The metal Titan looked alarmed.

"Whoa, dude, I didn't mean to make you quit your project, I was only teasing." He apologized.

"No, no. I just spaced a little, is all…" Beast Boy replied, sounding just as spacey as he appeared. He quickly went back to sewing, finally making real progress and finishing up the ending with some grace. Cyborg was relieved that Beast Boy was considering his feelings, rather than learn that he'd broken his friend's brain.

"Phew, okay." Cyborg tapped the table urgently. "Then you'd better get going on this. My arm scanner keeps beeping at me. Raven's waking up."

 _Raven's waking up._

 _Raven. Waking. UP._

When Beast Boy's heart started doing it's little thing again he couldn't help but blush, thinking that Cyborg could hear it and then presume that he'd won the argument about 'love' (blech).

"That's good!" He said instead, with a little too much enthusiasm. "I'm literally almost finished." He commented.

Yeah, the blanket was terrible looking, and yes he'd used too thick a material so it might suffocate her, but it was soft and fluffy and Beast Boy was immensely proud.

If his annual last-minute Christmas presents were any proof, the green Titan was a full believer in "it's the thought that counts".

He tied off the stitching, snapped the last thread with his fangs and headed out the sliding doors of the living room toward the recovery ward and, of course, Raven.

…

Raven had never been so sick in her entire life. She tried not to dwell on it while she lay there, staring up at a cold, concrete ceiling, but happy thoughts were difficult to come by right now. She mostly got hers from a close proximity to Starfire, and without that energy to entertain her, she was afraid she'd have to come up with some on her own.

Raven tried not to think about the game. Not the castle, not the room, not Malchior; nothing. Yet, there was a part of her that wanted to relive some of the less horrific details. Malchior hadn't apologized for what he'd done to her in the past, but he'd tried to justify it, giving her a glimpse into what and who he truly was. A man from the past, desperately trying to understand the present. He was thrown into a future completely unlike his own world. He didn't know how to live in England now, now that there were no dragons like himself, no wizards to fight and plenty of superheroes preventing him from dominating the country. He'd sought solace in the dimensions around him where he could rebuild the world he'd lost. His castle, his gardens, but it wasn't enough. He'd needed company from someone he could relate to. Someone like Raven who'd read the tomes and knew the history, but she could never be what he wanted her to be. His friend.

Not after everything he'd done.

But now, hopefully, after everything had come to pass, they could be at peace. She, back where she truly belonged and he adrift somewhere in the ether.

She felt her eyes slip closed again, heavy from the need to rest, but her ears caught the small sound of the door to the ward slide open only an inch. She opened one lid to look into the green eyes of Beast Boy who seemed reluctant to enter now that he'd disturbed her.

"Oh. Uh, Cyborg said you'd be awake. I can come back?" He shuffled his feet outside the door.

 _No, don't leave. I need someone right now._ "Stay," she whispered hoarsely. "It's...lonely."

Beast Boy's emotions shot toward 'concern'. Raven felt both attacked and comforted by them. "It is? Oh, okay." He pulled the door open the whole way and then gently shut it behind him. He shuffled quietly toward a living chair that had been placed by Raven's side a while ago and sat down, holding in his lap what looked like a mountain of old, dark towels.

"What is that?" She gestured at the mound, her eyes forming a confusing picture. Beast Boy blushed, she saw.

"This? Oh, just something I've been working on...well actually it's finished now, but I wanted to show you. Uh, well give it to you?" He blinked down at the present in his lap and deeply regretted it now. He should have put more effort into it, given it more time, but it was too late.

She saw it, it was time.

He gently placed it next to her arm, and Raven with the most reluctance sat up to receive the gift. She felt her brain pounding in her skull and her eyes watered with the strain. She unfolded the dark towels and realized that it was actually a quilt of some thick fabric. It had black and indigo patches with a bright red diamond pattern in the middle. It was rough-looking and a little pathetic, but she cried.

It was supposed to be her. Not just a gift _to_ her, but _her._ Raven, the way that Beast Boy saw her. She couldn't stop now that she'd begun. It was very unlike her, but they were quiet tears that dripped gently down her cheeks.

Beast Boy was alarmed. "Raven!? No! I'm sorry, I know it sucks! Robin told me I was doing it wrong but I was too stubborn to listen, I'm sorry!" He waved his arms like a madman and gently attempted to take the quilt away from her but she yanked it back and buried her face into it.

"No," She whispered so low he could hardly hear her. "It's mine, don't take it. I want it." Her eyes barely cleared the surface of the fabric but they pierced into his heart.

His heart and throat were filling with emotions, both from happiness that she'd not only accepted his gift but _wanted_ to keep it for real, and from something else. "How are you?" He croaked out."You don't look too good."

She scoffed and wiped at her eyes. "I'm better, thank you." She felt his emotions like a gentle, if not suffocating, wave over her. She could tell there was nervousness, concern, awkwardness and something deep and powerful that she'd never felt before. At least, not when directed towards herself. She sighed and added, "This should help me get some sleep. Although, I'll probably need to get rid of the blankets I have now so I don't die from the heat."

Without hesitating she pulled every blanket she had off of her and threw them unceremoniously on the floor, wincing with the effort and, once that was done, draped the new one over her legs. She caught her breath underneath the heavy fabric and propped up the pillows on her own. It occurred to Beast Boy that he should have already offered to help her with all of this, to prevent her from straining herself, but was too flabbergasted and full of unbridled joy that not only had she accepted his gift, _wanted_ it, but replaced all the blankets she'd had with _just_ his.

She stared at him just as awkwardly from the pillows and sighed. "So. What have I missed?"

Beast Boy didn't even know what to say but began talking nonstop anyway. He realized that it was all drabble, giving Raven _every little detail_ of what they were doing every day, but he kept going because she never stopped him. She never told him to "shut up" or "okay, that's enough, thanks you freaking weirdo", so he kept talking. Finally, she lolled back in her pillows and fell asleep to the sound of Beast Boy's voice, and he stayed with her in the living chair for a long, long time.

…

Raven's first day of training since her illness was about to begin. She shuffled a little on the grass and watched Starfire pound the heck out of some drones. Robin had once told Raven that most of the equipment was built by Cyborg, rather than provided to them by the city, so she cringed a little bit for her friend. She cringed a little bit for herself, too, since those drones looked pretty tough, even for Starfire's caliber. But, the alien princess moved some hair to the side and gut-punched the largest one, sending it flying and broken onto the beach.

"Victory!" She cried, laughing and flying in happy swirls. Robin shamelessly cheered her on and planted a kiss on her cheek when she floated down to them. Raven smiled at her, and Starfire wished her good luck in Tamaranean.

Beast Boy watched from the sidelines as Raven took her stance, her palms out, ready to take on anything. He gulped but had faith, knowing that she would be able to sense any doubts from his emotions. He stayed strong for her and made sure she felt nothing but confidence.

"Okay, Raven." Robin called out. "We'll start slow."

She nodded, thinking that she was sure she could handle anything...but that _maybe_ she would trust Robin on this one.

Sometimes emotions can seem sentient all on their own, taking form without any provocation. Since Raven's powers had a firm hold on emotions, they themselves would almost seem sentient. If they were, they were happy to see her.

Raven began working through easy exercises: shoot this, levitate that, dodge this, fly here, etcetera, and all the while her powers were practically giddy with the exercise. They felt great, alive. Raven smirked with confidence as she fed off of Beast Boy's 'strong thoughts' that he was clearly trying to send her. She sliced through a massive drone in a millisecond and watched with overwhelming relief as it fell.

She was going to be fine. For real this time.

"Yeah, Raven!" Beast Boy cheered from the sidelines. Raven felt herself beam back at him, only to be whipped on the shoulder by a rogue flying disk.

"Ah!" She hissed, hitting the ground and holding her shoulder. Immediately Beast Boy was next to her.

"Whoa! Raven, you okay?" He asked.

She hissed a little more through her teeth before regaining a stoic face. Impassively she looked at him with a dead expression. "Fine. Thanks."

He was taken aback by the 'monotone-type' answer and was a little worried she was reverting a little too far back into her old "Raven Self".

Then she winked.

He laughed and hugged her. She rolled her eyes. "It actually does sting, so be careful." She pointed out.

"Right! Right, sorry." He shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. "My bad."

She reassured him with a nod and then Robin declared training for Raven over.

"Alright, Beast Boy, you're up." He smirked.

"Please." Beast Boy boasted. "I've got this in the bag."

Raven and Starfire sat on the grassy sidelines to watch. Raven was both surprised and not surprised because he actually _did_ have it in the bag. Sure, he skidded on a muddy patch and had to recover with an awkward backflip that didn't end well, but he was doing great.

Finally, the training session was coming to a close, and so was the afternoon.

"Pizza anyone?" Cyborg made it sound like a question, but it didn't seem like one.

"Movie night?" Beast Boy added.

Starfire and Robin glanced at each other awkwardly. "Actually, we were thinking of taking some time to ourselves?" Robin offered. 'We'll catch you guys in the morning for breakfast."

Cyborg watched them go. "Ew. Well, pizza for three, then?" He turned, beaming. Beast Boy nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm totally down, dude. But _only_ if we can have a movie night, too!"

"We just had one." Cyborg pointed out.

Beast Boy shuffled over to the kitchen cabinets and rummaged for popcorn. "That was way too long ago, considering all that we'd gone through." He shot back, playfully. He was determined to get his movie night one way or another.

Raven looked back and forth between the two of them, honestly trying to figure out a way to get out of the situation. All she wanted was to snuggle up in her dark room and sleep the whole night and maybe some of the day away. Instead, she succumbed to Beast Boy's 'puppy face' and told them she would be right back after she changed. She returned in a comfy black hoodie with leggings and the blanket he'd sewn for her. He seemed pleased when they all settled down on the couch to watch.

The evening ended unexpectedly.

Cyborg had actually drifted off halfway through the movie. Raven blamed it on the mystery-thriller theme, especially when Cyborg was more interested in action and adventure. Robin would have liked this movie. Solving clues, catching and running from bad guys, getting the girl (of course) as per usual, but he and Starfire were reveling in one another's company and Raven smiled at the thought. She loved how happy they were, although she didn't need to see the PDA when they were _too_ happy.

What surprised her the most, though, was that Beast Boy wasn't interested in the movie either. He shuffled and fidgeted, his eyes glazing over and glancing around the living room. He munched popcorn loudly and sighed once in a while.

"Alright, that's it." She whispered so Cyborg wouldn't wake up. "Movie night was your idea, so sit still and enjoy it."

He looked startled by her statement and sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be annoying."

It wasn't what he said, rather the way he said it that made her reach out and touch his shoulder. "No, you're not." Raven looked away from his expression that grew from sheepish to startled and finally embarrassed. "I guess it was me trying to say, 'what's wrong, Beast Boy?'." She finished, not taking her hand away.

He reached up and took her wrist in his own hand. It was surprising to her, mostly because she'd known he'd grown taller and was a lot bigger than when they first began the Teen Titans, but feeling him hold her little wrist like that made it even more clear. Beast Boy ran light circles over it with his thumb.

"I'm sorry." He finally said.

She rolled her eyes. "I told you, it's fine just stop fidgeting."

"No," He continued, pulling on her wrist to get her to look at him. "I'm sorry about everything that had happened. The game, Malchior, all of it."

 _Oh,_ She thought. "What's done is done. I'm alright..."

"But you weren't. Maybe you are now, but seeing you like that..." Beast Boy's ears drooped. "It was really hard for all of us. For me, actually."

She finally looked at him. "I'm sorry you went through that, then." Raven didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure what _he_ was saying, especially since his emotions were like a torrential rainstorm pouring over her, trying to get her to see them. To see him, truly.

"Raven, no. _You_ went through it. Again! You should never have had to battle him alone, and yeah we helped, but the whole time you were sick and alone..." He tried really hard not to pull her wrist closer, to hold it to his face, his chest, his heart. "I was so worried."

"You were." It wasn't a question.

He took it as one. "Of course! Raven, you..." Cyborg stirred a little but kept sleeping. Beast Boy lowered his voice. "You mean a lot to me."

Raven felt wary and hoped that her body language wouldn't give him the impression that she was trying to get away from him, even though she was. Her senses were warning her that this was going to take a turn, that maybe they'd never come back from this conversation. She felt his emotions calm and become more concrete, more resolute.

Raven held her breath.

"I...care about you."

She tried to interrupt him. "I know you do, I care about you too, but-"

He pulled her into a silencing embrace, his chin on her forehead. She was now extra aware of how much bigger he was now. So tall, muscular. _He smells good_.

"No, I mean, yes I know you do, it's just..." Beast Boy couldn't describe it. It was killing Raven because she knew he didn't have to. She'd felt these feelings before by just watching Robin and Starfire be together. Like a few days earlier in the sick bay when she had noticed them, they were familiar, just never had they been directed toward herself before.

She decided to give him the chance to say it. Knowing and interrupting him would only hurt him, and when he did say it she would shut it down. She had to, he was her friend.

"Raven, I think I like you. A lot, I... I just feel so...different. Than usual. You know?" His chin was still resting against her forehead and he could smell her hair. It was such a strong, attracting scent. He guessed some sort of honeycomb and lavender. Beast Boy had never cared this much about her smell until this moment, and in his embarrassed state, all he wanted was for time to stop so he could sniff at her hair in peace. Instead, she pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes.

Because she was wrong. He wasn't her friend, he was more. She'd felt it when she was alone with Malchior and watching from afar. When Beast Boy had proven himself again and again. When he'd fought for her in the end, nearly killing himself. When she woke up she thought it was the fever, that it couldn't possibly have been anything more. Just a fever, just the game. When his feelings poured over her, she couldn't find her own and was convinced it was all him. It couldn't be her, absolutely not.

No way.

Oh, but it was. Her heart was pounding in her chest, not from fear. Her hands shook by her side, wanting to touch him. He looked so serious, it bothered her. All she desperately wanted in that moment was for him to smile. To laugh. To call her 'dude' and then throw something at her to get her riled up. Her cheeks were warm and her body was warmer. Stronger than ever her emotions screamed to be heard, to be satisfied. _Don't bury us_ , they whispered. _You're safe here. Safe from us and safe with him_.

They were right.

"Me, too." Was all she said back.

It wasn't what she'd said, Beast Boy felt, but the way she said it that made him kiss her.

It was oh, so gentle. A little brush against her mouth that tasted sweet like green tea and starry nights. He felt his nose linger there, breathing her in so seductively that she kissed him back, also gently, barely to be considered a real kiss. Just something that helped them show each other what they were feeling. Something easy, something safe.

When they pulled back, Raven knew she was right. They'd never come back from this, everything had changed, but where they went from here wouldn't be scary or tortured. It would be slow, and well-discussed while they respected each other's feelings and figured out their own.

Beast Boy smiled now, making her heart sing. "Oh, good." He leaned in and whispered, "You taste good." before nipping her earlobe. He learned with a sucker punch to the gut that he'd gone a little too far, too fast, and he pulled back.

"Sorry! Sorry!" He laughed between gasps of pain.

Cyborg woke up, startled. "Wha? Is it over?"

Raven draped her new blanket over her legs and Beast Boy's, nonchalantly leaning toward him and hissed, "No, shut up I can't hear it."

Beast Boy giggled at her deadpan expression and Cyborg's confusion, throwing an arm over the back of the couch and winking at his best friend. More confused than ever, but sensing something that made him uncomfortable, the metal Titan got up, stretched and declared the movie too boring to continue. He ruffled Raven's hair as he left, and laughed to himself all the way to his room.

Raven sighed contentedly as the credits rolled a short time later. "So."

"So?"

She shrugged. "Wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Just you and me?" He blinked in surprise.

"Mhm."

Beaming, Beast Boy pulled her close under the horribly suffocating blanket and answered, "Yeah, dude."

* * *

 **There it is! I hope the wait wasn't too long. Thank you all so so much, from the bottom of my heart for staying with me through this!**

 **P.S. If you guys would like to see some one-shots about Beast Boy trying to show Raven video games, anime, food, flavors of gum, camping and sports, let me know in the comments! (I was thinking I would anyway)**

 **Thanks for a great year of Teen Titans and . I love you all!**

 **-Song**


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